UNHCR Special Envoy urges more support for Somalia refugees

More international support is needed for Somalia so that scores of citizens who left the country decades ago can return home. That’s the hope expressed by Ambassador Mohamed Affey, Special Envoy for the Somali Refugee Situation with the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR. Countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Uganda are hosting some 900,000 Somalis who fled civil war nearly 30 years ago. Jocelyne Sambira caught up with the Special Envoy at the UN-backed refugee solidarity conference held recently in Uganda.

UN rushes to aid displaced Darfur families left homeless by camp fire

In Sudan’s restive Darfur region, some 4,000 displaced people are now living under trees following a deadly fire which destroyed the camp they were living in. The incident occurred earlier this month at the Korma camp, located some 80 km from El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State which also is home to the headquarters of the hybrid African Union-UN Assistance Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). Troops from the mission helped extinguish the fire and provided first aid to the injured, while UN and local humanitarian groups brought relief supplies, including water bladders, jerry cans, sleeping mats and cooking sets. Jumbe Omari Jumbe accompanied UN officials who travelled to the site and filed this report.

Praise for peacekeepers’ support in recent South Sudan crisis

Peacekeepers at the UN mission in South Sudan, UNMISS, are being praised by the top UN official in the country for their speedy response in support of a recent humanitarian emergency in the north. The 80 blue helmets from Rwanda were helicoptered into the remote village of Aburoc, located in the Upper Nile region, where some 25,000 people had taken refuge from conflict. Their presence helped create conditions so that aid workers could come in and provide assistance to the displaced people, thus saving lives, said UNMISS chief David Shearer, who is also the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for South Sudan. Mr Shearer visited Aburoc and spoke to Daniel Dickinson.

Presenter: Dianne Penn

Production Assistant: Ana Carmo

Duration: 10’00″