UN almost doubles appeal for Somalia after worst drought in 10 years

The United Nations today almost doubled its appeal for humanitarian aid for war-torn Somalia to more than $300 million, after the worst drought in a decade ravaged crops and left more than 2 million people in urgent need in the impoverished African country.

The appeal for $326,718,040, up from $174 million, addresses the critical humanitarian needs of the drought affected and vulnerable populations, including 710,000 people in a state of Acute Food and Livelihood Crisis, 915,000 experiencing a Humanitarian Emergency 1 and up to 400,000 internally displaced people, the Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia said in a statement.

“This current drought is unprecedented in ten years and the impact it is having on food, water, health, education and livelihoods is alarming. With a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation, the humanitarian community needs to scale up its current response exponentially,” said Acting Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Christian Balslev-Olese.

Mr. Balslev-Olese also warned that if the upcoming main rainy season failed, and climate predictions already suggest a significant possibility of poor rains, “a tragedy will unfold,” and he appealed to “all aid organisations, the government,

local authorities and the donors to work together to alleviate the egregious effects of the drought in this country.”

The statement said that in the event that this “worse case scenario materializes”, the number of vulnerable populations will increase to 2.2 million between July and December 2006, adding that while seemingly not such a large increase, “it does include a major shift in severity, with a nearly 40 per cent increase in the number of people facing Humanitarian Emergency or Famine conditions.”

Over the last 14 years, protracted civil war and persistent fragmented conflicts have eroded Somali livelihoods. Infant, child and maternal mortality rates are amongst the highest in the world, Somalia has one of the lowest primary school enrolment rates in the world, while average life expectancy is 48 years.

Displacement, prolonged drought, flooding and human rights abuses have torn the socio-economic fabric of society apart too, all contributing to the current grave humanitarian crises, and Mr. Balslev-Olese urged Somali authorities to ensure aid workers were allowed to operate in safety.

“While the operating environment for humanitarian organizations working in Somalia remains one of the most challenging in the world owing to difficulties accessing vulnerable populations, armed conflict and general insecurity, the humanitarian imperative is compelling and we have to find ways to overcome these challenges,” he said.

“I urge the Transitional Federal Government to do everything possible to ensure access and security for the aid community.”

Recent political developments to get Somalia back on its feet have included last month’s convening for the first time inside the country of the Transitional Federal Parliament in the town of Baidoa.

Somalia has been torn by factional fighting ever since the collapse of President Muhammad Siad Barre’s regime 15 years ago. Only last month clashes erupted in Mogadishu, the capital, and pirate attacks against aid ships have hampered UN efforts to provide emergency food to those in need.

Elsewhere in Africa, a needs assessment team, including representatives from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), non-governmental organizations and others, is in the Afar Region of Ethiopia to look into the “deteriorating food security situation” there, while drought is also affecting southeastern parts of the country too.