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Mauritania + 1 more

Mauritania: UNHCR Operational Update as of 15 January 2019

Attachments

Mauritania hosts over 2,500 urban refugees and asylum- seekers and almost 56,000 Malian refugees in and around Mbera camp. Despite the conclusion of a peace agreement in 2015, large-scale returns of Malian refugees are not expected due to persistent violence in northern Mali. In December alone, 69 new arrivals were registered in Mbera camp. In the context of this protracted situation, UNHCR is engaging with several actors to strenghten the humanitarian-development nexus, in order to reduce refugees’ needs, risks and vulnerabilities. Furthermore, UNHCR registered 51 new arrivals in the mixed movements contexts of the urban areas of Nouakchott and Nouadhibou. Pending the adoption of the asylum law, UNHCR works closely with the Mauritanian authorities to enhance the protection of refugees in Mauritania improving access to documentation, birth registration, economic opportunities, and basic services such as health and education. UNHCR is engaging under the umbrella of the United Nationss Sustainable Development Partnership Framework (CPDD).

KEY INDICATORS

5,900
New arrivals from Mali since January 2018
241
Voluntary returns to Mali facilitated in 2018
4,744
Malian refugees with specific needs (as of 31 December 2018)

FUNDING (AS OF 15 JANUARY)
USD 19.3 M
2.8 M received. 16.5 M requested for the UNHCR operation in Mauritania

Highlights

The US Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (BPRM) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) paid a visit to Mbera camp and sorroundings host community villages. Tthe delegation visited several infrastractures and projects in the camp including a school, the UNHCR registration centre and ILO/UNHCR vocational training centre.
A delegation of the World Bank, accompanied by a representant of the Mauritanian Ministry of Economics and Finance (MEF), paid a visit to Mbera camp, surrounding villages and the town of Bassikounou. The mission was the opportunity to further discussions on the importance of the legal and policy framework for refugee inclusion, which the World Bank will be further discussing with Government of Mauritania as they define the projects/sectors in which the Wold Bank could invest, including priority areas such as public health.