ERC signs two MoUs with NRC, WFP to provide food, educational and health assistance to Tuareg tribes in Mali

Abu Dhabi, 12th October, 2015 (WAM) -- The Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) has signed two memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the World Food Programme Council (WFP) to provide educational, food and health services to the Tuareg tribes in northern Mali. Fahad bin Abdul Rahman Sultan, Deputy ERC Secretary-General for Donations and Marketing, who signed the MoUs with Mario Stephan, Gulf Office Director at the NRC, ?and Abdullah al-Wardat, Director of the WFP office in the UAE and GCC, announced that a third MoU would be inked soon with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) for providing healthcare services to Tuareg women and children. He said the three relief organisations would carry out projects worth AED 11.7million for the benefit of the Tuareg tribe. Sultan emphasised the ERC's commitment to extend humanitarian, relief and health assistance to the Malian tribe and other needy and vulnerable people across the world. The ERC, he said, welcomed the humanitarian partnership with the NRC and WFP in implementing the ERC-funded educational, health and relief services programme in Mali. ''We hope that these MoUs will be a good starting point for broader humanitarian partnerships with other regional and international organisations,'' he said. On reasons behind targeting the northern Mali tribes, the ERC official explained that it is the humanitarian policy of the UAE relief agency to reach out to those in need of help in different parts of the world and the Tuareg tribe lives in a desert region which is frequently hit by drought and needs assistance when it comes to food, health and education. ''One year from now, the ERC will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the situation there and evaluate reports by the three partner international organisations on the impact of such assistance on the lives of the Tuareg families,'' he said. The MoU with the NRC will involve delivery of educational services including stationery to students of Tuareg families, while the one with the WFP will provide basic food and livelihood materials to the population of the region. The soon-to-be signed MoU with UNICEF will deliver vaccines to children under the age of five and healthcare services to Tuareq women and children. Abdullah al-Wardat, Director of the WFP office in the UAE and GCC, said the WFP had undertaken many projects in Mali funded by some states, noting the ERC's prompt response to the WFP study on the Tuareg tribes' need for food assistance. – Emirates News Agency, WAM - http://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395286571944.html