The Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) has announced plans to build nine "pilot" villages in the west African nation of Mali that will provide shelter to support thousands of displaced people in the region, said a report.

The villages are to be built at a cost of over Dh2.2 million ($598,932) and will shelter around 38,625 people, reported state news agency Wam.

Each village will include a school, a dispensary, an artesian well, and a mosque, as well as small projects to provide a stable source of income for those in need, and improve their economic conditions, it stated.

Over the past years, civil war and conflict in northern Mali have led to the displacement of thousands of families resulting in a critical humanitarian situation, which was exacerbated further by natural disasters, including drought and desertification, causing major food shortages.

Through their work with the Mali Red Cross, the ERC will implement the pilot villages project in areas including Kidal and Timbuktu.

Arrangements for the implementation of the first phase of the project, which includes five villages in the most displaced areas, have already begun, said the report.