Situation in Somalia Dire and Growing Worse, By Caroline Patton.

(Somalia, May 16,  2008 Ceegaag Online)

For months, a drought has been intensifying, not only in Somalia but throughout the region and has combined with unrest to push the cost of food upward and reduce supply. At the same time, violence has erupted with renewed force in Somalia and the humanitarian situation is declining.

Violence reignited in Mogadishu in April, sending 7,000 people fleeing the capital and leaving behind hundreds of casualties, women and children among them. They joined 1 million refugees who had already left their homes, including around 700,000 displaced from Mogadishu in 2007.

Now, the cost of cereals, including rice, maize, and sorghum, have gone up 375 percent in a year. They are now at their apex. The regions of Somalia that face the worst condition are ones with large numbers of refugees and substantial population density.  

Million have no or too little food for their needs, many others have sold everything valuable they had to keep themselves fed. The total is around 2.6 million who rely on aid, around 35 percent of Somalis, and 600,000 more are living in the cities without the resources to buy sufficient food.

 The number requiring international help is up 40 percent this year and the UN fears that those classified as ‘food insecure’ could add up to 3.5 million people, half of all Somalis by 2009.

Currently the Danish Refugee Council is working with the UN World Food Program to offer heat food in Somalia ’s capital Mogadishu . Currently 50,000 take part daily in the program. The WFP is also providing food to around 400,000 Somalis in Puntland, Somaliland and south-central Somalia , CARE International also is helping approximately 90,000 people in Galgaduud and South Mudug . Distribution of clean water is also a priority.

Among the most vulnerable victems and the insecurity and food shortage are children and the UN Children’s Fund is now feeding some 44,000 Somali children under age 5 who have been driven from their homes. They are being given UNIIX, a type of gruel made of fortified corn and soya, of which they will be entitled to 10 kilos a month. The goal is to aid 90 percent of child refugees from the capital.

Humanitarian organizations have also faced hurdles in getting assistance to those who need its. Two truck drivers for the WFP have been killed since the start of 2008 and there have also been attacks on aid vehicles by militias and the installation of illegal checkpoints in order to extract money.

UNICEF Representative said Christian Balslev-Oldsen emphasized that, “More than ever before in recent history, we are seeing hundreds of thousands of families at the brink of survival and we are working round the clock to find additional ways of reaching them with assistance despite the very difficult security situation.”

The ray of hope for the situation in Somalia comes from negotiations opened this week in Djibouti between the Somalia ’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia. Secretary-General’s Special Representative Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah,reported, “Many, especially the young people, told me that this is a new and important first step towards stability in their own country.”

The Somali state has not functioned properly for 17 years but Mr. Ould-Abdullah believed that, “the overall objective of this meeting is to prepare the ground for a peaceful and brotherly relationship between Somalis and to initiate the first step towards real stability, true peace and sincere reconciliation based on forgiveness.” He also saw it as “a clear indication that Somalis are willing to respect their commitments when they believe in what they are doing.”

Hopefully the talks will bear fruit but until then many Somalis face dire threats and, whatever the outcome, the country has many challenges ahead.

CAROLINE PATTON

webmaster@ceegaag.com