UNITED NATIONS, Aug 3 (IPS)- The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden, confirmed that the state of famine in the country was extended to three more areas: the Afgoye Corridor, the capital Mogadishu and Middle Shabelle, the spokesperson of the UN Secretary General, Martin Nesirky, told reporters Wednesday.
Bowden said the measure reflects the UN’s concern for the drastic situation in southern Somalia. He also invited the international community to scale up the aid actions in the country and the whole Horn of Africa region.
With the new announcements, the number of areas that are suffering from famine in Somalia increased to five. In the capital, Mogadishu, famine has been declared due to the huge influx of refugees that have arrived in the last two months.
On 20 July, the United Nations declared famine in Bakool and Lower Shabelle, approximately 400 Km from Mogadishu, after weeks of an intense drought that created the worst emergency in the region in 60 years. The crisis has affected 12,4 million people in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti.
The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos, told reporters Monday that more than 1.4 billion dollars are still needed to face the drought and that famine could spread to five or six more regions. She also encouraged the cooperation from foundations and private companies.
“This will not be a short crisis”, said Valerie Amos at an Emergency Ministerial Meeting held in Rome, Italy, this week. She appointed that the emergency could last for three or four months, at least.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that just 1 billion dollars have been received so far from donors all over the world. Approximately 1,300 Somali refugees arrive to Kenya and several hundred flee to Ethiopia every day.
Humanitarian efforts in Somalia have also been affected in part by the operations of al-Shabaab, an al Qaeda supporting group that banned foreign aid in the country since 2009 and in this case only granted limited access.
No comments:
Post a Comment