Socio-economic impact of the crisis in northern Mali on displaced people

Abstract

This article analyses the impact of the 2012 crisis in Mali on internally displaced people, refugees and returnees. It uses information from a face-to-face household survey as well as follow-up interviews with its respondents via mobile phones. This combination was found to present a good and robust way to monitor the impact of conflict on hard-to-reach populations who at times live in areas inaccessible to enumerators. Results indicate that better educated and wealthier households as well as those less exposed to violence fled the crisis. Significant amounts of durable goods (20-60 per cent) and animals (75-90 per cent) were lost and the welfare of the displaced declined considerably as a result of the crisis. Yet, over time, its impact has diminished. By February 2015, most eligible children were going to school and employment levels and numbers of meals consumed were at pre-crisis levels. The article finds that different ethnic groups chose different places of refuge. Depending on location, the narrative of the crisis and the challenges that need to be overcome to attain a peaceful solution to the crisis differ diametrically.