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Somalia:
Aid delivery problems for rural IDPs.
(Somalia, Aug 07,
2008 Ceegaag Online)
Much of
Somalia's displaced population has scattered across rural
villages, which are hard to reach because of rampant
insecurity and limited resources, an international agency
said, impeding aid delivery.
CARE
International, which distributed some 900MT of food to
12,000 IDPs in the southern town of
Beletweyne two weeks ago, said its staff had failed to
access rural areas. Instead, they relied on local partner
agencies to do assessments.
"The IDP
population is mixed, with some households previously
displaced from
Mogadishu [the capital], and then there are [those] recently
displaced out of Beletweyne town by fighting," CARE said.
Some of
them were reportedly returning but others were moving
farther away, as far as Tayeeglow district in Bakool region.
Their situation was dire, according to local sources.
The
difficulty of delivering food aid has affected other
agencies too. On 31 July, the UN World Food Programme (WFP)
said a convoy of trucks carrying 1,500MT of food to the
Hiiraan region had been delayed due to fighting between
insurgents and Ethiopian-backed government troops around
Beletweyne.
The
trucks were headed for Bulo Burte and Jalalaqsi districts,
in Hiiraan region. An estimated 37,000 IDPs are in the area.
A
journalist based in Beletweyne, who requested anonymity,
told IRIN the situation of IDPs in and around the town was
deteriorating because food was in short supply.
"They
have nothing to eat and fighting continues in parts of the
region," the journalist said. "Children, especially, are
facing malnutrition, diarrhea, malaria; whenever someone
approaches the IDP camps, the children quickly gather around
you thinking you might have some food for them."
Binto
Adde Dahir, a mother of five, one of whom died of hunger a
few days ago, said the children were at serious risk of
starvation. "They have not eaten in days, I don't know what
to do, we need food urgently," she said
Meanwhile, Canada has stepped in to protect ships carrying
food against piracy off Somalia's coast. In a statement on 6
August, Canada said it was deploying the frigate, HMCS Ville
de Québec, for the next few weeks to escort WFP ships.
"Food
supplies are urgently needed in
Somalia
but deteriorating security has made delivery difficult by
land and sea," said Peter Gordon MacKay, Minister for
National Defence. "Canada is stepping up to the plate by
tasking Ville de Québec with the role of escorting World
Food Programme ships to ensure their safe arrival at
designated ports."
According to WFP, there were a total of 31 incidents off
Somalia
in 2007, "the worst year on record for Somali piracy". So
far this year, pirates have launched 24 attacks.
Since a
naval escort system began last November, frigates from
France,
Denmark and the Netherlands have provided escorts for WFP
ships and proved an effective deterrent against pirates.
According to UN estimates, at least 2.4 million Somalis rely
on food aid, 80 percent of which arrives by sea. Instability
and insecurity have dogged
Somalia
for almost 20 years, but prevailing drought and increasing
world food prices have worsened the situation.
Source: Irin News
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