Horn of Africa: UN envoy urges global community to explore root causes of hunger

Making his first visit to the drought-stricken Horn of Africa this week, the United Nations humanitarian envoy for the devastated region today emphasized the need to explore the root causes of food insecurity that have left 11 million people in five nations facing starvation.

“I have seen with my own eyes the terrible effect this drought in having on pastoralists, farmers and their families,” UN Special Humanitarian Envoy Kjell Magne Bondevik, said in Nairobi after visiting the drought-hit district of Kajaido in Kenya. He added that children are frequently the most vulnerable in the affected communities and the losses of livestock threaten families’ ability to survive.

The drought has left millions of people facing starvation in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti and Kenya, compounding an already dire humanitarian crisis in countries that have been dealing with years of high malnutrition and morbidity rates, chronic food shortages and man-made conflicts.

A former prime minister of Norway, Mr. Bondevik met with government officials, senior UN officials and representatives from the humanitarian and donor communities during this three-day trip. He emphasized that smoother coordination between all players in the relief field was crucial to tackle this devastating humanitarian crisis that has left millions of people in crisis.

While the groups were working to bring assistance to people, “it is also very clear that much more needs to be done now and in the future,” Mr. Bondevik added.

Last month, the UN World Food Program (WFP) estimated that the drought was affecting 2.5 million people in Kenya, 1.4 million in Somalia, 1.5 million in Ethiopia and 60,000 in Djibouti. At that time, the agency urged donors to provide immediate food aid for 5.4 million people as many children in the Horn of Africa were eating only one meal a day.

Nearly two weeks ago the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) appealed for $16 million to expand its relief efforts in the region and said 1.5 million children under the age of five were suffering.