Senior UN relief official calls on Somali factions to ensure safety of civilians

A senior United Nations relief official today expressed shock and outrage over the murder of an Italian aid worker Sunday in Somalia and called upon all factions in that country to ensure the safety of civilians and assistance workers.

Jan Egeland, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said: “I was deeply shocked and outraged” at the killing of Annalena Tonelli Sunday on the grounds of the hospital she ran in Borama, in northwest Somalia.

“Her death underscores the dangerous circumstances in which aid workers bring assistance to people in need, and the bravery they exhibit in doing so,” he said.

He called on all Somali faction leaders to ensure the safety of civilians and humanitarian workers, as the security situation remained extremely difficult in Somalia, preventing aid agencies from accessing many vulnerable groups who continue to suffer the effects of conflict and insecurity.

Ms. Tonelli, 60, had worked with Somali patients for more than 30 years.