Dramatic Deterioration of the Humanitarian Crisis in Somalia

Due to the recent Piracy Crisis, the ending Abyssinian occupation of part of the Somali territory, and the precipitated political – military developments of the Somali Civil War, there is a tendency to forget the immense humanitarian crisis of Somalia. A extraordinarily great number of IDPs, unexpected natural disasters, as well as extreme difficulties in protecting the civilians and delivering food aid (interlinked with the aforementioned crisis) create an appalling environment that the world’s leading powers failed to anticipate as consequence of their policies; even worse, they did not succeed in taking it nto account.

The recent Joint Statement signed by 52 NGOs working in Somalia, and two reports from IRIN underscore the significance of the moment, the existing peril for another genocide, and impose an immediate and massive UN intervention in Somalia; I re-publish all three documents.

Somalia on the crisis : Joint statement from 52 NGOs

http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Press_Releases_32/Somalia_on_the_crisis_Joint_statement_from_52_NGOs.shtml

Statement by 52 non-governmental organizations working in Somalia on the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis in the country.

Press Release

We, the undersigned NGOs, are extremely concerned about the devastating humanitarian crisis in Somalia.

Nearly half of Somalia’s population, or 3.25 million people, are now in need of emergency aid. This is a 77% increase since the beginning of 2008. This number has increased dramatically over the past year due to the destructive combination of extreme insecurity, drought and record-high food prices. The situation is expected to deteriorate further with ordinary Somalis bearing the brunt of the cost.

Despite the ongoing political process we have not witnessed any lessening of the violence that continues to have a horrendous impact on civilians.

In the last few weeks, renewed shelling in Mogadishu has displaced approximately 37,000 civilians from their homes. Over the past nine months, 870,000 have fled for their lives. A total of 1.1 million people are currently displaced in Somalia today.

We are appalled by the indiscriminate and disproportional use of force by all armed parties to the conflict, which is further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.

The poorest of Mogadishu’s residents have no means to flee the extreme violence and have limited means to earn a living leaving them completely dependent on humanitarian assistance. This while the average Somali has seen price increases for food and water of up to 1,000 percent, plunging many into worsening poverty. One in six children under five, or approximately 180,000 children, is acutely malnourished in South and Central Somalia.

Aid workers are increasingly the victims of assassination and kidnapping and are now seen as legitimate targets. This year alone 24 aid workers, of which 20 are Somali nationals, have been killed whilst carrying out their work. The whereabouts of another ten are unknown. There have been 111 reported security incidents directly targeting aid agencies.

National and international aid agencies are prevented from responding effectively to the needs of ordinary Somalis because of violence and severely limited access. At present, South and Central Somalia is almost entirely off limits to international staff of aid agencies.

We call upon all parties to the conflict to allow aid agencies unhindered access to Somalis who are in desperate need of emergency assistance.

The international community has completely failed Somali civilians. We call on the international community to make the protection of Somali civilians a top priority now.

Spokespeople:

Andrea Pattison – Oxfam International (Nairobi based)
andrea.pattison@oxfamnobiv.or. ke
Mob: +254 736 476 514

Robert Maletta – Oxfam International (Nairobi based but currently in the US)
robert.maletta@oxfamnovib.or. ke
+254 735678890

Susannah Friedman – Save the Children UK (Nairobi based)
s.friedman@scuk.or.ke
Mob: +254 7336 28192

Rosemary Heenan – Trocaire (Nairobi based)
+254 720218674

Signatories to the statement (52 National and International NGOs):

1. ADRA - Adventist Relief Development Agency

2. AET – Africa Educational Trust

3. AFREC – Africa Rescue Committee

4. ASEP – Advancement for Small Enterprise Program

5. CARE – Cooperative Assistance for Relief Everywhere

6. CARITAS SWITZERLAND & CARITAS LUXUMBOURG

7. CEFA – Somalia European Committee for Agricultural Training

8. CISP – Comitato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo dei Popoli

9. CPD Centre for Peace and Democracy

10. COOPI – Cooperazione Internazionale

11. DEVELOPMENT CONCERN

12. DRC - Danish Refugee Council

13. DIAKONIA EMERGENCY AID BREAD FOR THE WORLD

14. DIAKONIA Sweden

15. FERO – Family Economy Rehabilitation Organization

16. GHC – Gedo Health Consortium

17. GREDO – Gol Yome Rehabilitatation & Development Organisation

18. HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL

19. HAPO CHILD – Hiran HIV/AIDS Prevention and Child Protecton Organisation

20. HARDO – Humanitarian Action for Relief and Development Organisation

21. HIMILO – Himilo Relief and Development Association

22. HISAN

23. HORN RELIEF

24. IAS – International Aid Services

25. IDF – Integrated Development Focus

26. IMC – International Medical Corps

27. INTERPEACE/WSP – Interpeace / War torn Societies

28. INTERSOS

29. IRC – International Rescue Committee

30. IREX – International Research & Exchanges Board

31. ISLAMIC RELIEF

32. KAALO RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT

33. MAG – Mines Advisory Group

34. MEDAIR

35. MERCY CORPS SOMALIA

36. MERLIN

37. NORWEGIAN CHURCH AID

38. NRC – Norwegian Refugee Council

39. OXFAM INTERNATIONAL

40. PROGRESSIO UK

41. RI – Relief International

42. SAACID AUSTRALIA

43. SAFERWORLD

44. SCUK – Save the Children UK

45. TERRA NUOVA – Terra Nuova Association for International Cooperation to Development

46. TROCAIRE

47. VSF SUISSE – Veterinaires Sans Frontieres - Switzerland

48. VSF GERMANY - Veterinaires Sans Frontieres - Germany

49. WELTHUNGERHILFE

50. WOCCA – Women and Child Care Organization

51. WORLD CONCERN

52. WORLD VISION

Somalia: Floods Add to IDP Misery in Lower Shabelle

http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=80834

Nairobi, 9 October 2008 (IRIN) - Thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in camps in and around Somalia's southern port town of Marka have been left without shelter after heavy rains pounded the area, officials said.

"We had 10 hours of very heavy rains on Monday that destroyed almost all the shelter for the displaced," said Mahamud Dahir, head of the humanitarian affairs for Lower Shabelle. "Many of the temporary shelters have been washed away."

At least 1,500 IDP families (9,000 people) are affected in Marka, 100km south of the capital Mogadishu.

"The families in the Buulo Ba' ad camp have lost everything," he said. "There is not a single shelter left."

Dahir said some of those affected sought refuge with other families in other camps around the area.

"Their lives were already precarious, now they are out there in the open and we don't have much to help them with," Dahir said.

He said many of the IDPs arrived recently following an upsurge in the fighting in the capital. "We have registered thousands of newly displaced from Mogadishu in the past two weeks."

The Lower Shabelle region was already hosting hundreds of thousands of IDPs from Mogadishu.

Regional medical officer Abdirahman Abdullahi Abdi told IRIN the health of the displaced was deteriorating.

"The heavy rains, with wind, have combined with lack of shelter and lack of adequate food to have a negative impact on their health."

Abdi said an increase in illnesses and diseases, such as diarrhoea and respiratory diseases, had been recorded, mainly among children and the elderly.

Sanitation has also become a major concern. "We have tens of thousands of people with too few latrines and now the rains and the winds have destroyed some of those," he said.

Abdi said cases of malnutrition had increased. "We are getting more and more malnourished children."

Dahir said providing shelter, food and water to the displaced was a priority. "We need to get them some form of shelter urgently before it is too late."

He said the rains were still pounding the area, adding: "The more they remain in the open the more likely [it is] that many will die."

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported that torrential rains and strong winds had also hit a string of settlements for hundreds of thousands of IDPs between Mogadishu and Afgooye, destroying makeshift shelters and leaving many homeless once again.

"Initial reports indicate that rains and wind mainly struck IDP settlements in the Kurtunwarrey district, near Afgooye, and in Marka district near Mogadishu," said the agency in a statement on 7 October.

UNHCR said it would distribute 3,500 assistance kits for 21,000 people. The kits contain plastic sheeting, blankets, kitchen sets and sleeping mats.

The sudden and heavy flooding has exacerbated the already difficult circumstances in war-torn Somalia, where over 1.1 million people are displaced.

Some 700,000 people fled Mogadishu in 2007 alone. Since the beginning of 2008, another 170,000 have fled the capital, including at least 35,000 in recent weeks, according to UNHCR.

More people are fleeing fighting in the city described as the worst since the beginning of the latest insurgency in February 2007.

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Somalia: NGOs Urge International Community to Protect Civilians

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=80786

Nairobi, 7 October 2008 (IRIN) - Insecurity, drought and record-high food prices have led to a rapid escalation of the humanitarian crisis in Somalia, with some 3.25 million people now needing emergency aid, NGOs said.

"We are appalled by the indiscriminate and disproportional use of force by all armed parties to the conflict, which is further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis," a 6 October statement by 52 national and international NGOs said.

While worsening insecurity continued to limit access for aid agencies, drought - caused by a fourth consecutive failure of the rains - was spreading across central and southern areas, according to the NGOs.

The situation has been aggravated by hyperinflation, which has caused an increase in food and water prices by up to 1,600 percent.

Piracy has also complicated the delivery of food aid. Chatham House, an international think-tank, recently urged the international community to formulate a plan to ensure that piracy did not interrupt the supply of food aid to the country.

The NGOs said 32 ships had been hijacked off the coast of Somalia between January and August 2008.

Civilians in crossfire

Half of Somalia's population needs emergency aid, a 77 percent increase since the beginning of 2008.

"The situation is expected to deteriorate further, with ordinary Somalis bearing the brunt of the cost," the group said. "Despite the ongoing political process we have not witnessed any lessening of the violence that continues to have a horrendous impact on civilians."

The NGOs included Adventist Relief Development Agency (ADRA), Cooperative Assistance for Relief Everywhere (CARE), Danish Refugee Council (DRC), HIV/AIDS Prevention and Child Protection Organisation (HAPO CHILD), International Medical Corps (IMC), Oxfam International, Relief International, World Concern and World Vision.

Renewed shelling in Mogadishu had led to the displacement of at least 37,000 civilians, bringing the estimated total of displaced Somalis to 1.1 million, the NGOs said.

"The average Somali has seen price increases for food and water of up to 1,000 percent, plunging many into worsening poverty," the group said. "One in six children under five, or approximately 180,000 children, is acutely malnourished in south and central Somalia."

At the same time, aid workers were increasingly targeted for "assassination and kidnapping". This year alone, 24 aid workers, 20 of whom were Somali nationals, were killed while the whereabouts of another 10 remain unknown.

"National and international aid agencies are prevented from responding effectively to the needs of ordinary Somalis because of violence and severely limited access," they said. "At present, south-central Somalia is almost entirely off-limits to international staff of aid agencies."

Urging parties to the conflict to allow aid agencies unhindered access to civilians in desperate need of emergency aid, the NGOs added: "The international community has completely failed Somali civilians. We call on the international community to make the protection of Somali civilians a top priority now."

The UN has described the security situation in Somalia as the worst the country has experienced since the early 1990s, while the UN's Food Security and Analysis Unit (FSAU) has described the level of human suffering and deprivation in Somalia as "shocking".

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Note
Picture: IDPs at a past food distribution: A group of NGOs have expressed concern over the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Somalia.