Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen members of the committee, Madam Ambassador and dear colleagues, thank you for inviting me. Thank you for extending this invitation at the same time as the one to my colleague from Mali. We stand in solidarity and partnership during this period.
Mr. Chair, pursuant to the analysis, statements and illustration provided by President François Hollande, who, as Madam Ambassador of Mali mentioned, visited that country's cities of Timbuktu and Bamako last Saturday, February 2, 2013, I would like to remind you that France's role in the current situation alongside Mali has three components. The first two components were just perfectly explained and illustrated by my colleague.
The first component has to do with Mali's political evolution. When it comes to that, France is pleased with the current democratic transition. The road map adopted by the Malian National Assembly on January 29 announces an election. President Traoré has said that the election will be held by July 31 of this year. That is great news. In the spirit established by the UN's resolution 2085 last December, a north-south dialogue will begin between, if I may use president Traoré's words, Malians and Sahelians, the river people and the dune people, and all signs and portents regarding that are extremely positive.
At this especially difficult and delicate time, France—like Canada and Mali's other partners and friends—is closely monitoring the human rights situation. President Hollande emphasized the role, presence and importance of a major institution like the International Court of Justice in those kinds of circumstances, alongside Malian legal institutions. As my colleague pointed out, there is an international support and follow-up group on the situation in Mali, which brings together all the stakeholders, major international organizations, such as the European Union, the United Nations, the World Bank, the African Union and ECOWAS. That group has already met on three occasions—in Abidjan, in Bamako and, two days ago, in Brussels—with 45 delegations.
That was the first component, the political one.
The second component has to do with the humanitarian side and the reinstatement of a policy on aid and development for Mali. Currently, two million people are affected by food insecurity in Mali and, overall, close to twenty million people are affected in the whole region. However, it is of key importance to help Mali and the Sahel countries acquire a new capacity that will allow them to reinstitute a policy on economic development and the fight against trafficking. France, through its development agency, and Europe, through the European Development Fund, have recently announced that development assistance could potentially be as high as it was before the crisis, or about 250 million euros.
In addition, in order for those two components—the political component, perfectly described by my colleague, and the humanitarian and development assistance component—to resume over the next few months, the country's security and military situation must obviously become stabilized and clarified. In the second part of my introductory remarks, I would like to tell you a bit about the military situation.
That is also divided into three components. Obviously, the first component is French involvement. Operation Serval enables French and Malian troops to help Mali gradually regain its territorial integrity. I won't repeat the facts, as everyone knows them by now. The decision to launch an operation on January 10 and 11 of this year was based on the request by the Malian president and President Hollande. That operation is ongoing, and we can say today—as our presidents said in Timbuktu and Bamako last Saturday—that it is especially effective.
A series of air strikes have been launched since January 11. They are still ongoing. Since January 31, there have been 135 sorties of French airplanes or attack helicopters, but there have also been ground deployments. As of today, there are 4,000 French soldiers on the ground. That will be the maximum. The French minister of defence stated two days ago that we will not exceed that number. Obviously, 4,000 soldiers on the ground is a significant contribution. That has made it possible, with the support of Malian forces, to recapture all the cities along the Niger Loop, and as far as Kidal today.
Does this mean that military operations are completed? No, there is still some resistance, in urban proximity—as you have seen in the many media analyses currently available—but also in Mali's northern region and the extreme north. That's a mountainous region that has not yet been secured and is probably being used by narcoterrorists for withdrawal. President Hollande said that France's military intervention would go as far as securing that northern part of the country.
To carry out this engagement, we have received logistical support from a number of partner countries in Europe, such as the United Kingdom, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain, but also some countries outside Europe, such as Canada—and I will come back to this in my conclusion—and the United States.
Operation Serval, which also enables the Malian army to help recapture and secure the territory, is not a permanent operation. As my colleague mentioned, AFISMA, the International Support Mission to Mali and Malian forces will gradually take over. The deployment so far has been very satisfactory, as we are close to about 4,000 soldiers, of which some 2,200 come from ECOWAS countries—and we can come back to this if there are any questions—and 1,800 come from Chad. Those forces are now on Malian soil and are ensuring security. In a way, they are taking over for the French and Malian troops in cities where peace has been established, such as Diabali or Gao, which is currently being secured by Nigerian troops.
Finally, a third component is currently being implemented. I'm talking about the European component of support to Malian forces. We call it EUTM, or the European Union Training Mission. Once again, some things are currently taking place, as this European mission was officially launched two days ago. It will be implemented next Tuesday, February 12, in Bamako, with an initial staff of 70 military members. However, it should reach a total of 500 European soldiers, with just over 150 trainers. Of the 27 European countries, 15 will be contributing to that mission, including France as the lead nation, with about 200 people.
Obviously, that implies costs, which in turn imply commitments. For instance, the French minister of defence has stated that France has spent about 70 million euros in additional costs since the beginning of operations. As part of implementing resolution 2085, calls for contribution were launched to support the inter-African force, AFISMA, and to help rebuild the Malian army. We are talking about training and equipment. That was the objective of the donator conference for Mali held in Addis Ababa on January 29 of this year. According to estimates, that conference led to promises of support for both military operations and Malian armed forces, but it also resulted in at least 377 million euros in humanitarian support. The African Union has even estimated that the figure was about 450 million euros.
That is our action, as a coherent whole.
In closing, allow me to state that the French involvement, in support of Malian armed forces and with their assistance, put an end to terrorist sanctuaries that were a direct threat to the integrity and future of not only Mali and Sahel, but also Europe, as we are 1,500 km away from the Mediterranean.
Moreover, we have greatly appreciated the assistance of Canada, which contributed a C-17 aircraft. At first, it was for a one-week period, which has been extended until February 17. I want to insist on the fact that this contribution was key also because Canada got involved extremely quickly. On Tuesday, January 5—and I want to point out that the operation received the green light on January 11—the aircraft was leaving Canada, and it was ready for action on Thursday, January 17, which was exactly when we needed to send a great deal of equipment and troops from France.
To wrap up my conclusion, I would like to reiterate some of the statements President Hollande made on February 2 of this year. He said that what was at work was obviously assistance and support for Mali, as well as the rebuilding of Mali's territorial integrity, sovereignty and democratic life. In addition, beyond Mali, Western Africa and Sahel, the relationship between Africa and Europe, between Africa and all of its partners was at work to ensure the future of this Africa. We need the support of the international community to achieve that. I believe that Canada stepped up when its support was needed in the face of a challenge as important as Africa's future and development.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.