Mali has called on the international community for aid to deal with the fall-out of severe flooding which has hit the country in recent weeks. Over 40 people have died and thousands more are displaced. Neighbouring Niger is facing a similar situation with a death toll of over 270.
The Malian Ministry of Health has called on international partners to help provide around €4.5 million (3 billion CFA francs) to "deal with material damage" and "health risks", particularly in relation to the stagnation of water, prone to diseases and epidemics.
In its latest report, issued on 4 September, the authorities said that since the start of the rainy season (in June) there had been 228 cases of flooding in 18 regions, 18,140 households affected and 42 people killed.
The regions of Segou, Gao and Bamako are among the most affected.
The transitional authorities declared a national catastrophe on 23 August and put in place a plan to reinforce food security and assist affected households.
The Malian council of ministers adopted measures such as continued awareness-raising on the risks of flooding, a formal ban on the allocation of plots for residential use in flood-prone areas as well as cleaning of gutters and road junctions to improve water flow.
Mohamed Askia Touré is the acting United Nations humanitarian affairs coordinator in Mali. He said that UN organisations and all NGOs present in the country were mobilised.
Shelter in schools
"There are multiple needs in terms of shelter, food or health, in particular to prevent epidemics," Touré told RFI.
Many homes have collapsed completely or are partially destroyed, while many fields are underwater, depriving families of their livelihoods.
"Most of the people displaced by the floods are now in school centres," Touré explained.
"We are ensuring that the needs they face will be covered, to first allow them to return to their place of origin and to allow these schools to reopen in the coming weeks," he continued.
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The United States responded to Mali's declaration of a national emergency by announcing that $125,000 (€110,000) would be allocated to the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) and the International Federation of Red Cross Societies.
In addition, USAID funded the distribution of buckets, food, water purification tablets, kitchen utensils, mats, oil, rice, and soap.
USAID also provided five vehicles to assist with evacuations.
The massive displacement of communities has disrupted children's education at the start of the school year, international charity Save the Children warned on Friday.
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"Hundreds of thousands of children now displaced from their homes are facing disease, hunger from crop destruction, and disruption to their education, as schools have become crowded with fleeing families or damaged in the floods," the NGO said.
"These countries are already ravaged by conflict and insecurity, making it even harder to respond, said Vishna Shah-Little, regional advocacy, media and communications director for the agency in Western and Central Africa.
Mosque washed away
The rainy season in the Sahel countries runs from June until September and brings similar problems every year.
But scientists warn that climate change driven by fossil fuel emissions is making extreme weather events such as floods more frequent, intense and longer-lasting.
Severe flooding has also affected neighbouring Niger, where heavy rains since June have killed 273, injured 278 and left more than 700,000 left homeless, according to Niger's Interior Ministry.
Some 649,184 people have been displaced in the country.
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Besides flash floods and landslides, the downpours also caused the destruction of one of the Muslim country's oldest mosques.
The iconic mud building in Zinder, built in the mid-19th century, "was completely wiped off the map last week after a massive downpour", resident Ali Mamane confirmed to French news agency AFP.
Made from a mixture of earth and straw called banco, the mosque was Niger's second-most visited after the Unesco-listed Agadez mosque, according to Niger's ministry of tourism.
