As instability and forced population movements persist across central and northern Mali, women and girls face an escalating risk of gender-based violence, a United Nations agency has warned.
Presenting findings from a survey conducted last May, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which focuses on sexual and reproductive health, highlighted “an increase in sexual violence incidents within internally displaced persons (IDP) sites and conflict zones.” The report specifically mentioned cases of “sexual exploitation, harassment, and forced marriage.”
This heightened vulnerability emerges within a “critical humanitarian context” in specific areas of the central Sahel, particularly for women who are not only at greater risk of sexual violence but also “lack adequate access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services.”
According to the UN agency, May 2025 witnessed a surge in armed conflict, especially across the Timbuktu, Gao, Mopti, and Ménaka regions, marked by increased attacks from armed groups. These violent outbreaks have triggered significant new waves of displacement.
Access to essential health services severely limited
The number of internally displaced persons has nearly reached 380,000, a significant increase from 330,000 in May 2024, representing an almost 15% rise. “Women and girls are at the core of these vulnerabilities, being disproportionately affected by this insecurity and the ongoing humanitarian crisis,” UNFPA stated.
Out of the 6.4 million individuals requiring humanitarian assistance, more than half are women and girls. Many of these reside in areas where access to protection and health services is severely restricted, the agency noted.
Currently, less than a quarter of health facilities in crisis-affected regions offer comprehensive sexual and reproductive healthcare or support for survivors of gender-based violence. Nearly half of the specialized services in this crucial area remain non-operational nationwide. The most impacted regions include Gao (76%), Ménaka (77%), Mopti (56%), and Timbuktu (80%).
On the ground, UNFPA teams are intensifying their humanitarian efforts, providing support to 86 health facilities, establishing six safe spaces for women and girls, and operating seven one-stop centers in the most affected central and northern regions (Ségou, Mopti, Gao, Timbuktu, Ménaka).
Massive funding shortfall for critical aid
In May alone, mobile health teams delivered sexual and reproductive health services and gender-based violence prevention and response to nearly 3,000 individuals in displaced persons camps, with 80% being women and adolescent girls. Midwives offered prenatal, postnatal, and delivery care, while dignity kits and reproductive health supplies were distributed in areas impacted by floods and conflict.
Across Mali, approximately 900,000 women and girls are targeted for reproductive health services or anti-sexual violence programs. However, the response remains critically underfunded. Out of this year’s appeal for $16.5 million, UNFPA has only secured $2.9 million. The agency’s teams are thus confronting a “colossal deficit of $13.5 million” to assist thousands of women and girls in urgent need.
Without immediate additional funding, the scope and long-term viability of programs combating sexual violence and providing reproductive health services in Mali are severely jeopardized.
