These operations began in Tin Zaouatène on 11 August and will continue until 15 August, bringing aid to 400 families, who have been displaced since July 2007 as the result of fighting in the region. The families will receive almost 110 tonnes of food aid (rice, semolina, oil, sugar, tea and salt), which should cover their needs for three months. The ICRC and the Mali Red Cross already distributed food relief supplies and basic necessities in March 2008.

In phase 2 of the operations, 60 families from the village of Boghassa, who were displaced in January 2009 due to fighting in the region, will be supplied with sets of household utensils comprising blankets, tarpaulins, cooking utensils, folding jerry cans, mosquito nets, teapots, buckets, sleeping mats and soap.

The Mali Red Cross will be supporting this operation through its office in Kidal by providing volunteers at each of the sites concerned. The local authorities have collaborated closely in the selection of the target populations.

Explaining the purpose of this operation, Sylvain Corderoy, who is head of the ICRC office in Gao, said: "The aid provided for these people should help to attenuate the insecurity that is generated by displacement."

ICRC runs its activities in Mali through its offices in Bamako and Gao, working closely with the Mali Red Cross, its principal operational partner.

As an impartial, neutral and independent organization, the ICRC pursues the exclusively humanitarian mission of affording protection and assistance to the victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence. It also endeavours to prevent suffering and to strengthen universal humanitarian law and principles.