The first United Nations relief shipment in five years arrived in Mogadishu today, August 8, 2011, less than a week after the UN declared three new famine areas in South Somalia. The shipment, which also contained 31 tons of shelter materials, is expected to provide aid for some 470,000 displaced people in Mogadishu affected by famine.
UN Appeal for Aid to Somalia
While the shipment marks a turnaround for aid to Somalia, the UN estimates that there are more than 3.2 million people in immediate need of assistance, and is calling on donor countries to assist with funding.
"We need the funding support to continue to enable us to replenish our emergency stocks inside Somalia as they are being rapidly depleted as we deliver much-needed aid across southern Somalia,” said Bruno Geddo, the UN Refugee Agency’s (UNHCR) representative to Somalia. (UNHCR, Aug 8, 2011).
Jill Biden in Kenya
The shipment also dovetailed with the visits of Dr. Jill Biden and Senator William Frist to the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. Biden, who is the wife of Vice President Joe Biden, and Frist have been meeting with USAID Administrator Raj Shah to assess the extent of relief that will be needed for famine victims. This is Biden's second visit to Kenya.
On Wednesday, August 3, One.org, a grassroots advocacy organization committed to eradicating world famine, coordinated a conference call with donor agencies, supporters and the press. Shah, and World Food Programme Executive Director Josette Sheeran acknowledged that at present, the U.S. is the largest donor to famine relief.
Famine and Drought in the Horn of Africa
“It is an epic drought. This is when the world needs to stand together with Kenya and Ethiopia” Sheeran said, explaining that the two neighboring countries to Somalia are also experiencing drought, but have been working to provide relief to the area’s victims.
She said that there are three main issues that the region is facing that makes the problem particularly urgent: Drought and the loss of crops and livestock; soaring food prices (Somalia’s cost of food is three times what it was a year ago) and the insecurity that comes with conflict.
“You really have a perfect storm in the Horn of Africa right now.”
Shah said that during the G20 Summit two years ago, world leaders made the commitment to work toward eradicating famine. He said it is particularly important right now to keep to that goal.
“The world has a chance right now to live up to the commitments that were made in 2009,” said Shah, “and even though it is tough economic times, to make smart targeted investments. (It) is much cheaper to deal with this through agricultural development and safety net type programs than to deal with the consequences of acute famine, child death, failed states and the riots that result when all of that happens.”
The U.S. had recently donated approximately $65 million to relief efforts in Somalia and as of today, has committed another $105 toward the effort of combating the famine. The UNHCR estimates that due to the extent of the drought in the Horn of Africa, that the initial $65 million will only cover approximately 45 percent of what is needed to address drought and famine in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti (UNHCR, ibid).
The Children's Famine in Somalia
Sheeran said in the Aug. 3 conference call that the urgency of the crisis can be seen in the numbers of children that are arriving to relief centers malnourished. For famine to be declared in a given area, 2 out of every 10,000 children must be malnourished. Sheeran said the numbers had already exceeded that estimate in the five famine areas, and for that reason, this crisis has been called the Children's Famine.
“Now we are seeing 15 children a day, which would equal 10 percent of children in the famine areas dying every 11 weeks. So we are seeing a profound number of deaths there.”
Due to the urgency of the situation, the UNHCR has opted to fly in the supplies, rather than to transport them by the standard route, which is by ship and by land. It expects to make another shipment on Thursday, and a third next week (UNHCR, ibid).
Jan Lee - Jan Lee has been writing for online and print publications for more than 20 years and have been published in five countries.
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