EU will hold Mali conference

imgThe European Union will next week (15 May) host a donor conference intended to co-ordinate international efforts to help Mali overcome its security, political, and humanitarian crises. 

The focus will be on supporting and funding Mali’s development, but the debate will remain conditioned by the security situation. France’s intervention to repel advances by Islamist rebels has been successful enough for it to say that it will reduce its troop presence 4,000 to 1,000 by the end of this year.

Officials in the EU and from the other states, organisations and financial institutions that will participate in the conference are still discussing how much to provide to support the 160,000 people displaced by the conflict and to help the country’s long-term development.

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