The humanitarian situation is precarious for the population of northern Mali, with little access to food, water and medical care amidst chaos and violence.

Tens of thousands have been displaced. Many have sought refuge in neighboring Niger, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, and Algeria.

Access to areas affected by the violence by humanitarian organizations, including the ICRC, remains a major challenge due to the prevalence of banditry and the multiplicity of armed actors.

Access to health care by residents remains extremely limited. In the city of Gao for example, health structures were looted and medical personnel fled, leaving pregnant women and victims of gunshots on their own. 

Photojournalist André Liohn was recently awarded the 2011 Robert Capa Gold Medal Award for Almost Dawn in Libya and “photographic reporting from abroad requiring exceptional courage and enterprise." 

In this Decisive Moment, Mr. Liohn speaks about the meaning of that award, photojournalism and the healthcare workers he reported on while covering Libya.

On the occasion of the Capa Medal ceremony on May 9th in New York, the Overseas Press Club of America wrote:

Today, in the Philippines, young people whose lives have been turned upside down by repeated typhoons are planting mangrove trees to protect homes from storm damage and protect fish-pond dykes to ensure more secure livelihoods.

Today, in Gambia, young musicians are delivering powerful messages, through music, about vaccines, malaria prevention and HIV to increase community access to much needed health care. In Romania, youth volunteers are spreading similar messages through an innovative SMS helpline.

Today, in Afghanistan, where the conflict and its resulting insecurity prevents many from safely accessing health care, thousands of volunteers are learning basic first aid techniques, thereby safeguarding vital access to primary health care for their communities.

In situations of armed violence, medical personnel and humanitarian workers are often targeted, kidnapped or even murdered. Clinics are ransacked, doctors prevented from caring for their patients. 

Recent field-based research by the ICRC show that health care is inaccessible or interrupted for thousands of people affected by violence.