ICRC News Release - Somalia: conflict and drought compound civilians' woes

Nairobi/Geneva (ICRC) – The longstanding armed conflict in Somalia is taking a heavy toll on the country's population. Thousands of people continue to flee the hostilities in Mogadishu. They either find refuge with relatives or host families or look for shelter in makeshift camps. In cooperation with the Somali Red Crescent Society, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) completed a distribution last week of items such as blankets, kitchen sets, jerrycans, sleeping mats and clothes for 75,000 displaced people (IDPs) from Mogadishu in southern and central Somalia.

In the drought-affected Sool region, in the northern part of the country, 36,000 displaced people received a two-month ration of beans, rice and oil. In addition, 120,000 displaced people and residents in various parts of the country were given seed that will enable them to harvest tomatoes, onions, carrots and other vegetables in the upcoming months. The dire humanitarian situation is particularly difficult for children to bear.

"Somalia's children have never known what it is like to live in peace; armed violence has ravaged the country ever since they were born," said Dr Ahmed M. Hassan, the president of the Somali Red Crescent. "Although they have adapted their short lives to the situation, they deserve all the support they can get."

Thousands of children have to cope with the task of surviving in a hostile environment where there is a constant danger of being caught in crossfire. Child-care institutions across the country are doing their best to provide children with food, clothes and medical care, at a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult for civilians to contend with the deadly violence.

During the fasting month of Ramadan, the ICRC and the Somali Red Crescent are supplying various orphanages in Mogadishu and the Shabelle region with food. Around 5,800 children are receiving rice, flour, dates and oil. For Eid al fitr, the festival that marks the end of Ramadan, the orphans will receive clothes.

The ICRC has been working in Somalia since 1977. It focuses on providing emergency aid and restoring family links for people directly affected by armed conflict, often in combination with natural disasters, and runs extensive first-aid, basic health-care and other medical programmes to treat the wounded and sick. It also carries out agricultural and water projects designed to improve the economic security of vulnerable communities over the medium term. It works closely with and supports the development of the Somali Red Crescent Society.

UN DEPLORES ATTACK ON AID COMPOUND IN SOUTHERN SOMALIA

The United Nations has strongly condemned the attack against its aid compound in southern Somalia on Sunday, the fourth time in two months that the world body's offices in the Horn of Africa nation have been deliberately targeted.

Armed gunmen carried out the attack around midnight on 16 August at the World Food Programme (WFP) compound in Wajiid, according to a statement issued by the Office of the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia.

The attack comes less than one month after Somali militants raided two UN compounds Baidoa and Wajiid, stealing equipment and vehicles and forcing the Organization to close down one of its operations in the strife-torn nation.

"This direct, deliberate and sustained attack on aid organizations and aid workers is intolerable," acting UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Graham Farmer said, urging all parties to allow unhindered access for aid workers assisting those in need.

The UN has repeatedly called on all parties in Somalia to ensure the safety of humanitarian aid workers, who are tending to the needs of some 3.2 million people, or 40 per cent of the population, made vulnerable by the combined effects of conflict, drought, high food prices and the collapse of the local currency.
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OVER 19 MILLION PEOPLE IN HORN OF AFRICA NEED HUMANITARIAN AID, SAY UN OFFICIALS

OVER 19 MILLION PEOPLE IN HORN OF AFRICA NEED HUMANITARIAN AID, SAY UN OFFICIALS
New York, May 12 2009 2:00PM
Senior United Nations officials today highlighted the need for significant resources to help over 19 million people in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia who require humanitarian aid due the effects of conflict and drought.

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes told a news conference in Geneva that the situation in Ethiopia, which has faced several years of drought and more recently high food prices, could deteriorate over the next few months.

There were concerns that less than expected rainfall could lead to poor harvests and there would be an increased need for food aid and for pockets of therapeutic feeding where malnutrition was present.

Mr. Holmes, who is also UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, said that there was no consolidated appeal for Ethiopia but there was a joint humanitarian response plan agreed with the Government, which would expire in June of this year and would need to be renewed. Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/countries/ethiopia">WFP) needed an additional $236 million to cover its operations in the country for the rest of the year.

Meanwhile, drought and a major conflict had led to a situation in which some 50 per cent of Somalia's population was being provided with food rations, Mark Bowden, Humanitarian Coordinator for the country, told reporters.

He said the current drought was one of the worst in the last decade, and the prognosis for the rains this year was worsening. Around 24 per cent of children in some parts of the country had global acute malnutrition, and it was necessary now to start general supplementary feeding for children.

With fighting erupting again in the capital, Mogadishu, there are renewed fears about displacement, he added. There are currently some 1.1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and more people had left the city over the weekend.

Mr. Bowden noted that the response to the $900 million appeal for Somalia had been "disappointing," with only 35 per cent of it being met so far.

Aeneas Chuma, Resident Humanitarian Coordinator at the UN Office in Nairobi, said Kenya too was facing a complex humanitarian situation owing to drought and high food prices. An estimated 10 million people were currently affected by the food insecurity.

In addition, the country had also been affected by the global economic downturn as major sources of revenue such as tourism had declined by about 30 per cent, while remittances from families abroad had also declined by 40 per cent.
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UN AND PARTNERS SEEK $36 MILLION TO AID MADAGASCAR AMID MULTIPLE CRISES

Six United Nations agencies and three non-governmental partners in Madagascar today appealed for $35.7 million to help prevent a deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the country, which has been hit this year by drought, cyclones and political unrest.

Some 2.5 million people living mainly in Madagascar's main cities and an additional 880,000 living in the drought-affected south now need humanitarian assistance, as a result of the multiple crises of recent months, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

With the majority of the population living under $1 a day, rising food prices and limited incomes have curtailed the ability of most households to have access to food, water and sanitation services, health and education.

OCHA added that the political crisis over the past three months has worsened the already precarious situation of large segments of the Malagasy population through disruptions in basic social services and a climate of fear and uncertainty.

It has also caused delays or a cessation of services to a number of aid and development projects across the Indian Ocean island nation.

Political tensions and unrest in the country culminated with the resignation of President Marc Ravalomanana in early March, amid a dispute with the mayor of the capital, Antananarivo, Andry Rajoelina, who now leads the country.

The UN has repeatedly stressed that inclusive talks are the only means to bring about a smooth transition and a non-violent resolution to the crisis. The world body has been trying to assist the country through the efforts of Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Haile Menkerios and UN Senior Adviser Tiébilé Dramé.

Speaking to reporters after briefing a closed-door session of the Security Council today, Mr. Menkerios called the current situation in Madagascar "untenable" and urged the parties to engage in dialogue on the way forward.

"The Council members expressed serious concern about the unconstitutional means of taking power by the former Mayor, and urged that there be a quick return to a constitutional order through a transitional process that is based on consensus reached through wide participation of all stakeholders in Madagascar," he stated.

"A return to constitutional order can only come by organizing quick elections where the people of Madagascar will decide," stressed Mr. Menkerios.
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