Pressure on aid efforts as masses flee famine
August 10, 2011, Wednesday
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THE number of people fleeing famine-hit areas of Somalia is likely to rise dramatically and could overwhelm international aid efforts in the Horn of Africa, a United Nations aid official said yesterday.
The UN estimates that tens of thousands of people have died from malnutrition in Somalia over recent months, and more than 11 million people across east Africa need food aid because of a long-running drought.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization's representative in Kenya, Luca Alinovi, warned the situation could become "simply unbearable" in coming weeks if Somalis continue to abandon their homes in south and central parts of the country in search of food.
Alinovi said: "The possibility is having everybody who lives in that area moving out, which would be a disaster."
He said transportation costs have doubled in recent months - evidence that there is growing pressure to leave.
The FAO claims the drought-hit Horn of Africa urgently needs US$103 million to rebuild agriculture and fight famine.
Thousands have already fled toward the Somali capital Mogadishu and across the borders to Kenya and Ethiopia, where refugee camps are straining under the pressure of new arrivals.
Alinovi said the FAO was working to deter Somalis from abandoning their drought-hit farms by paying them cash for small jobs, allowing them to remain.
He said once people leave their farms, they become dependent on long-term aid.
Cash payments have become controversial in Somalia, because of the possibility the money will end up in the hands of militant groups like al-Shabab, which is fighting the weak central government in Mogadishu.
"It is a risk that can be handled," Alinovi said, warning that the alternative could be a sharp rise in the number leaving.
"If this becomes a massive number, like hundreds of thousands of people moving out, then this simple problem will be very difficult to bear."
The World Health Organization, meanwhile, warned that diseases such as measles and cholera are circulating among Somali refugees, many of whom are too weak to survive the diseases.
About 3.6 million people in Somalia and 12 million people across the Horn of Africa, including Ethiopia and Kenya, are at risk of starvation, according to the UN.
The FAO, based in Rome, said: "The current funding gap stands at around US$103 million to provide immediate support to crisis-affected populations."
The FAO has invited agriculture ministers from its 191 member countries to a meeting on August 18 in an attempt to agree on urgent measures to fight the crisis.
The US said on Monday it will be giving an additional US$105 million in humanitarian aid for the Horn of Africa to help to provide food, health, shelter, water and sanitation.
The UN estimates that tens of thousands of people have died from malnutrition in Somalia over recent months, and more than 11 million people across east Africa need food aid because of a long-running drought.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization's representative in Kenya, Luca Alinovi, warned the situation could become "simply unbearable" in coming weeks if Somalis continue to abandon their homes in south and central parts of the country in search of food.
Alinovi said: "The possibility is having everybody who lives in that area moving out, which would be a disaster."
He said transportation costs have doubled in recent months - evidence that there is growing pressure to leave.
The FAO claims the drought-hit Horn of Africa urgently needs US$103 million to rebuild agriculture and fight famine.
Thousands have already fled toward the Somali capital Mogadishu and across the borders to Kenya and Ethiopia, where refugee camps are straining under the pressure of new arrivals.
Alinovi said the FAO was working to deter Somalis from abandoning their drought-hit farms by paying them cash for small jobs, allowing them to remain.
He said once people leave their farms, they become dependent on long-term aid.
Cash payments have become controversial in Somalia, because of the possibility the money will end up in the hands of militant groups like al-Shabab, which is fighting the weak central government in Mogadishu.
"It is a risk that can be handled," Alinovi said, warning that the alternative could be a sharp rise in the number leaving.
"If this becomes a massive number, like hundreds of thousands of people moving out, then this simple problem will be very difficult to bear."
The World Health Organization, meanwhile, warned that diseases such as measles and cholera are circulating among Somali refugees, many of whom are too weak to survive the diseases.
About 3.6 million people in Somalia and 12 million people across the Horn of Africa, including Ethiopia and Kenya, are at risk of starvation, according to the UN.
The FAO, based in Rome, said: "The current funding gap stands at around US$103 million to provide immediate support to crisis-affected populations."
The FAO has invited agriculture ministers from its 191 member countries to a meeting on August 18 in an attempt to agree on urgent measures to fight the crisis.
The US said on Monday it will be giving an additional US$105 million in humanitarian aid for the Horn of Africa to help to provide food, health, shelter, water and sanitation.
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