DROUGHT IN EAST AFRICA AFFECTING 12 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE HORN OF AFRICA

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SITUATION IN THE HORN OF AFRICA - latest news at the top

German text-TV / ZDF text: NEW UNHCR PORTAL

A new UNHCR portal has been started with information on the situation in the Horn of Africa and the relief operations. All aid agencies present and active in the region are to make detailed and up-to-date information available on the website - so UNHCR.

The internet website: http//data.unhcr.org/hornofafrica/

The portal provides an overview of the region in the Horn of Africa and special / specific news in relation to working conditions and activities in the country and in the refugee camps.


October 2011: The US estimates the drought and famine have so far killed more than 29,000 children under the age of five in the south.



SEPTEMBER 2011

About 13 million people urgently need humanitarian aid in the Horn of Africa following war and drought.

The World bank increases its aid from $500 million to $1.8 billion. So according to the head of the organisation, Robert Zoellick.

The region with massive drought is enormous and covers parts of the countries SOMALIA, KENYA, ETHIOPIA, ERITREA, DJIBOUTI and UGANDA.




25 August 2011: African leaders have raised more than $350m (£215m) in aid for 12 million people facing starvation in the Horn of Africa's worst drought in decades.

Some $1.2bn of the $2.5bn the UN says is needed has been raised worldwide.


UNICEF: > 300,000 CHILDREN IN EAST AFRICA AT RISK OF STARVING TO DEATH

In SOMALIA alone, 1.4 million children are affected by famine, of which almost 140,000 are at acute risk of starving to death.

In Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya and Somalia ten thousands have starved to death.

12 million in the region need food aid.




Diseases threaten refugees in camps in and around Somalia’s capital Mogadishu. Here more than 100,000 hungry people have arrived in the past few weeks in the hope of getting a share of the international emergency aid that is finally arriving by aircraft. More than 370,000 are already packed in camps where they arrived seeking shelter from the civil war - in the government-controlled areas of
Mogadishu.

After the withdrawal of the islamistic al-Shabaab militsia from almost all of Mogadishu, it has become easier to distribute emergency aid, but now an outbreak of cholera is threatening to cause deaths in the camps.

So far, 181 have lost their lives due to the disease where the victims risk dying of diarrhoea if they are not treated.

The world’s largest refugee camp – Dadaab – in northern Kenya that is already housing 400,000 people receives well over 800 newcomers on a daily basis. The pressure on the camp – consisting of 3 adjoining camps – has become so huge that the Kenyan authorities have been forced to open a fourth camp unit.


FACTS

AID AGAINST FAMINE

On 19.8.11 Denmark donated additional 80 mio DKK in prompt aid for the victims of the famine in the Horn of Africa. Add to this the 50 mio DKK that Denmark has already donated. Aid agencies in Denmark have already collected 32 mio DKK. In one week Denmark’s two largest TV stations (DR and TV2) will be hosting a national-wide show to raise more funds for the hunger victims. The show is expected to raise a two-digit million amount for the hunger victims.

Right now 12.4 million people in the Horn of Africa are affected by the world’s largest humanitarian crisis triggered by the worst drought for 60 years. The hunger disaster has made them totally dependent on international aid.

Most hunger victims are in Ethiopia where 4.8 million people need help. In Kenya and Somalia 3.7 million people need help in each country. Apart from the refugees, millions of Kenyans and Ethiopians are dependent on emergency aid. Furthermore, parts of the population and well over 20,000 refugees in the small state of Djibouti are affected.

At the same time the situation in Somalia is worsened by the fact that hunger and civil war have forced 25% of the population numbering 7.5 million people to leave their home regions - of which 1.7 million are still in Somalia.


6 SEPTEMBER 2011

FAMINE SPREADING IN SOMALIA

Now also Somalia's BAY region has been hit by famine, 750,000 additional people are at risk of starving to death in the next 4 months according to UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO. In the BAY region, 58% of children below the age of 5 suffers from acute malnourishment.

The number of Somalis in need of acute emergency aid has risen from 2.4 million people to 4 million people so far this year. 3 million of the needy are living in the southern parts of Somalia.



NEWS IN RELATION TO DROUGHT IN EAST AFRICA on 1 AUGUST 2011


Text-TV on German TV channel 2 / ZDF Text: UN: SITUATION IN SOMALIA GETS WORSE AND WORSE


AROUND 12.5 MILLION PEOPLE IN SOMALIA, KENYA, ETHIOPIA AND DJIBOUTI NEED HELP URGENTLY.

Worst hit is Somalia where the UN has declared a state of FAMINE. 5 million need help urgently, and more than 1 million children are at risk of dying

The number increases day by day, says Valerie Amos, coordinator of UNs emergency aid.

HISTORY OF THIS FAMINE IN THE HORN OF AFRICA

12 million people are threatened by the famine.

Initially, it hit the Somalia province Bakool and the lower part of the area around the Shabelle river in the middle of July.

In the end of July/start of August 2011, the famine spread to the refugee settlement in the Afgoye corridor, Mogadishu’s 7 districts and the Balaad and Adale districts in the central Shabelle. All of the southern part of Somalia are expected to be hit by famine during 2011.

It has been difficult for emergency organizations to get emergency aid into the affected areas due to lack of security. In the southern Somalia, al-Shabaab - al-Quada’s allies in the Horn of Africa – are in control, and that organization has denied all emergency organizations access to the famine-stricken areas.

Famine in the Horn of Africa follows the worst drought for more than 60 years.

In particular Somalia, Kenya and Ethipia are hard hit by the drought, and there is no prospect that the situation improves before 2012.

Drought started in November 2010 and has slowly been deteriorating because the rain – normally falling from October – failed.

Number of hunger-threatened people in the 4 worst- hit countries:
DJIBOUTI: 165,000
SOMALIA: 3.7 million
ETHIOPIA: 4.0 million
KENYA: 3.7 million


TEN THOUSAND PEOPLE HAVE DIED, and HUNDRED THOUSANDS ARE AT RISK OF STARVING TO DEATH.

Ugandan soldiers from the African Union and various militsia groups are fighting the islamic movement al-Shabaab which controls vast areas of Mogadishu and all of the southern part of the country which is worst hit by famine. The refugees come from this part of the country.


The Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya now houses 400,000 people, and each day sees the arrival of 1,300 to 1,400 new refugees.

DROUGHT IN EAST AFRICA AFFECTING 12.4 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE HORN OF AFRICA


UNITED NATIONS: DUE TO THE DROUGHT, MORE THAN 12 MILLION PEOPLE IN KENYA, SOMALIA, DJIBOUTI, UGANDA and SUDAN ARE THREATENED BY FAMINE.

12 MILLION PEOPLE ARE IN DESPERATE NEED OF HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE OF WHICH 3.7 MILLION ARE IN SOMALIA.

25% OF SOMALIA's 7.5 MILLION PEOPLE ARE DISPLACED[/B][/COLOR]


According to UNICEF, almost 800,000 CHILDREN IN SOMALIA are severely MALNOURISHED.

The world community / UN has already pledged 1 billion dollar (or 700 million Euro), but additional 1.4 billion dollar is needed.



FOOD INSECURE POPULATIONS:

ETHIOPIA - 4.56 MILLION
SOMALIA - 2.85 MILLION
KENYA - 2.4 MILLION
SOURCE: OCHA (The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs), Fews net


MORE THAN 4½ MILLION PEOPLE IN ETHIOPIA NEED FOOD AID.

SOMALIA SUFFERS FROM GIGANTIC HUNGER DISASTER

The FAMINE in SOUTH SOMALIA is described as the worst disaster in the world right now.

Ten thousands of Somali have moved to KENYA, but many cannot make a several-week-long walk.

In all of EAST AFRICA, 11.3 MILLION PEOPLE NEED HELP to overcome the consequences of the grave / serious drought.

According to the UN, 1 out of 3 Somali needs humanitarian assistance.

FEARS OF OUTBREAK OF CHOLERA AND MEASLES. Fears of infection diseases.


17 August 2011 BBC World News: UK International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell has become the first British minister to visit Mogadishu - Somalia's war-torn capital in 18 years.

Mr Mitchell warned of a race against time to tackle the "devastating famine" in the country and said without action 400,000 children could starve to death.

Two weeks ago, Islamist rebels pulled out of Mogadishu, but conflict has hampered aid efforts in the country.

Mr Mitchell pledged a £25m ($41.5m) aid package, including food and medicine.

His pledge came as the 57 member states of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference pledged $350m to help famine victims in Somalia, after a one-day OIC meeting in Istanbul.

The United Nations estimates that 12 million people have been affected by drought in the Horn of Africa.

Mr Mitchell: "The stark fact is that in southern Somalia the situation is deteriorating by the day. We could face deaths on a similar scale to those seen in 1991-2 if we do not act urgently now. This is a race against time."

He said more security was needed to protect humanitarian workers.

The government says the money announced on Wednesday brings UK support offered to Somalia to £54m since July.

The Department for International Development says a lack of health care, immunisation, clean water and sanitation in Somalia are fuelling outbreaks of diseases including cholera and measles.

Mr Mitchell said the latest UK funds would allow UNICEF - the UN organisation for children - to provide supplementary rations for up to 192,000 people and supplies to vaccinate 800,000 children against measles.

The aid package will also help UNICEF provide polio vaccines, vitamin A, and deworming supplies and equipment to help prevent malaria.

On Tuesday, the UN said death rates were at alarming levels in a refugee camp in Ethiopia - where many Somali refugees have fled - and on average 10 children under the age of five were dying each day.

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HOW TO HELP:


UK Disasters Emergency Committee

DEC is an umbrella organisation representing a number of aid agencies Participants include ActionAid, Age UK, British Red Cross, Cafod, Care International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Oxfam, Plan UK, Save the Children, Tearfund and World Vision


To make a donation call 0370 60 60 900 (charged at national rate) or post a donation to PO Box 999 London EC3A 3AA


If you are German, then go to ZDF, Text-TV page 890 for details

If you are Danish: Then go to text-TV on TV2 and DR1 - page 333 and 338 respectively for details


Wednesday 27.7.11: Donor Conference against famine in Nairobi, Kenya (text-TV on German ZDF).

Ten thousands have died due to the drought / famine. FAO (UNs Organization for Food and Agriculture) has adopted an "Action Plan" at the donor conference in Nairobi. Apart from emergency relief / aid, also long-term precautionary measures.


Monday 25.7.11 An emergency meeting was held in Rome, Italy.


Somali Foreign Minister Mohamed Ibrahim has warned more than 3.5 million people "may starve to death" in his country.

The UN estimates more than 1.5 million Somalis are internally displaced by hunger - most of them in central and southern Somalia, where 75% of the territory is controlled by al-Shabab.



UN: 640,000 CHILDREN ARE UNDERNOURISHED

More than 29,000 children < 5 years have died in South Somalia during the last 90 days as a consequence of the famine in the Horn of Africa according to the UN.

The United Nations expects the famine to spread to all of South Somalia during the next month and will make additional thousands of people flee their home area.

The Islamic Al-Shabaab militsia that was based in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu where it looted / robbed the starving left almost all its positions last Saturday, i.e. on 6 August 2011.


UN REPORTS CHOLERA EPIDEMICS IN DROUGHT-PLAGUED SOMALIA (German text-TV / ZDF Text)

In the capital Mogadishu alone, almost 4,300 patients have been treated since the beginning of 2011. So far 181 have died.






From http://www.dec.org.uk/item/507

East Africa Crisis Appeal

Over 10 million people are at risk in East Africa due to conflict and some areas being affected by the worst drought in 60 years. The DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal will support the work of our members in affected areas of Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan. Your donations can help provide life saving aid such as food, water, care for malnourished children and medical treatment.

Please donate online here: https://www.donate.bt.com/DEC/dec_fo..._form_id=DEC02



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14060545

8 July 2011 Last updated at 13:09 GMT

East Africa drought: DEC appeals for funds Advertisement

A group of UK aid agencies has launched a joint fund-raising appeal to help more than 10 million people affected by severe drought in the Horn of Africa.

Thousands of families in desperate need of food and water have trekked for days from Somalia to the Dadaab refugee camp in eastern Kenya.

The drought is the worst in East Africa for 60 years and the UN described it as a "humanitarian emergency".

A Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal will be broadcast by the BBC.

Comedian Lenny Henry will front the BBC TV appeal while broadcaster Kate Adie will voice the radio version.

The British public donated more than £1m to individual charities even before the DEC appeal was launched.

Save the Children had received £560,000, Oxfam £277,000 and the Red Cross £150,000.

DEC chief executive Brendan Gormley said thousands of destitute people were on the move into Kenya and Ethiopia.

More than 1,300 people a day were arriving in the Dadaab camp, already thought to be the world's largest with a population of 350,000.

A similar number are crossing into ETHIOPIA.

Many of those reaching the camps are severely malnourished children, some of whom have died soon after arriving.

'Preventing tragedy'

Mr Gormley said: "Slowly but surely, these people have seen their lives fall apart - crops, livestock and now their homes have been taken by the drought," .

"They've been left with no alternative but to seek shelter and life-saving help elsewhere.

"We have a duty to help quickly before the situation spirals out of control."

The UK has pledged £38m ($61m) in food aid to drought-hit Ethiopia - enough to feed 1.3 million people for three months.

The DEC appeal will help people in KENYA, SOMALIA, ETHIOPIA and SOUTH SUDAN, which will officially separate from the Republic of Sudan on 9 July.

Mr Gormley said: "Of course these people need a long-term solution with investment and political will - but right now it's about preventing a tragedy."

Aid agencies, including the Kenyan Red Cross, the Somali Red Crescent and Action Aid, are being helped by local groups to access remote areas with food, water and medical treatment.

UK International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell welcomed the appeal launch.

He said: "Through no fault of its own, the Horn of Africa is experiencing a severe drought caused by the failed rains.

"The British government is already providing vital food to help 1.3 million people - but more needs to be done and we are lobbying other governments to do their bit.

"We welcome the DEC appeal to help the 10 million men, women and children caught up in the crisis.

"British charities and organisations are on the ground and ready to help, but need this additional support to get emergency supplies to those in desperate need."


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14098646

10 July 2011 Last updated at 12:05 GMT

Somalis escaping the drought flee to the capital By Martin Plaut

Africa editor, BBC World Service

Somalis are fleeing the region's worsening drought by going to the capital, Mogadishu, even though it is severely damaged by years of fighting.

The government says around 1,500 people arrive in the city every day, but they have little aid to offer them.

Ordinary people are providing what help they can, for families sheltered in the ruins of former government buildings.

SOMALIA is at the centre of a drought affecting around 10 million people in four countries in the Horn of Africa.

There are daily deaths in Mogadishu, with eight people dying overnight in just one area.

The rains have begun and with temperature dropping, children and the elderly are becoming ill.

Islamist militants of al-Shabab, who control much of the country except for the capital, have established a camp outside Mogadishu for drought victims. But they are discouraging people from crossing into government held areas, or leaving for camps in Kenya and Ethiopia.

There, international organisations have set up tents, food stores and clinics.

It is not clear why al-Shabab are doing this, but local leaders of civic organisations coping with the drought say the militants are using radio broadcasts to restrict people's movements.

Abdullahi Shirwa told the BBC: "They [al-Shabab] are saying over the radio that you cannot go to either Kenya nor to Mogadishu.

The head of the United Nations refugee agency, Antonio Guterres, says he wants aid agencies to go into Somalia to help drought victims, if obstacles of security can be overcome.

Delivering aid to many areas would involve deals with al-Shabab, which is listed by the US as "terrorist".

"There are very severe obstacles and links to security that need to be removed, but I think it is essential to move in that direction," Mr Guterres said.

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KENYA PRESSED TO HELP HUNGER REFUGEES

German text-TV / ZDF text: NEW UNHCR PORTAL

A new UNHCR portal has been started with information on the situation in the Horn of Africa and the relief operations. All aid agencies present and active in the region are to make detailed and up-to-date information available on the website - so UNHCR.

The internet website: http//data.unhcr.org/hornofafrica/

The portal provides an overview of the region in the Horn of Africa and special / specific news in relation to working conditions and activities in the country and in the refugee camps.



More and more desperate cries for help come from refugees and relief organizations in East Africa which is hit by the worst drought in 60 years.

Many of the weakest come from worst-hit South Somalia.

The drought has forced ten thousands of people to flee their homes. Refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia have been overcrowded for a long time.

Relief organizations warn that soon they cannot handle the situation unless they receive more help from the international community.

DADAAB in Kenya is the world's largest refugee camp with more than 370,000 people gathered in the camp which was designed for 90,000!!

UNHCR - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - and several other players try to make KENYA finish part II of the refugee camp which is to house 40,000 people.

KENYA has been reluctant to open it because Kenya fears that the refugees would not leave Kenya again - according to BBC.

KENYA is also hard hit by the drought.

Source: Swedish text-TV: SVT text


GERMANY SENDS 1 MILLION EURO FOR REFUGEES

Inspired by the catastrophic drought and famine in the HORN of AFRICA, Germany spends one million EURO on the largest refugee camp in the world - DADAAB in Kenya.

Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that after having had a meeting with Kenys's President Mwai Kibaki in Nairobi.

Source: Text-TV on German ZDF / ZDFtext

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14144893

Horn of Africa drought: Kenya row over Somali refugees

A row has broken out in Kenya's government over the huge influx of Somalis fleeing the region's worst drought in 60 years.

About 370,000 Somalis are at an over-crowded camp and the government is divided over opening a second camp.

One minister said a new camp would encourage more Somalis to cross the border.

Another minister, however, said he was "embarrassed" that Kenya was refusing to give more help to refugees.

On Monday, UN refugee agency chief Antonio Guterres held talks with Kenya's Internal Security Minister George Saitoti to appeal to him to open the Ifo II camp, which is near completion.

It has room for up to 40,000 people and would ease over-crowding at the Dadaab camp, near the Somalia border, Mr Guterres said.

Aid workers say conditions at the Dadaab camp - which is made up of three settlements - are desperate, as about 370,000 people are crammed into an area set up for 90,000 people.

'Security threat'

On Wednesday, Kenya's Assistant Internal Security Minister Orwah Ojodeh told the BBC a new camp would not be a solution to the hunger crisis.

Instead, food relief should be provided inside Somalia as hunger not insecurity was the reason most refugees were heading for Kenya, he said.

But Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang said he was embarrassed that the government was refusing to open the Ifo II camp.

This was despite the fact that the UN had given Kenya tens of thousands of dollars for the camp, he said.

Mr Kajwang blamed the failure to open the camp on security chiefs and officials in President Mwai Kibaki's office.

"The problem is that our provincial administration [officials based in Mr Kibaki's office] and our security officers look at the huge influx as a threat to national security," he said.

"On the other hand, we see it as a crisis that must be managed. It is our responsibility under international law and our own law."

Mark Bowden, the UN humanitarian affairs co-ordinator for Somalia, told the BBC that Somalia was not yet facing a famine, but was "close" to one.

"The next few months are critical," he said.

'Breadbasket'

The BBC's Will Ross in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, says the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is exploring every possibility to increasing its presence in Somalia.

However, the WFP says it will not be able to return to areas controlled by the militant Islamist group al-Shabab unless it receives security guarantees.

Last week al-Shabab said it was lifting its ban on foreign aid agencies, provided they did not show a "hidden agenda".

Our reporter says there is clearly a desperate need for more food distribution in Somalia.

The International Committee of the RED CROSS is reporting a dramatic rise in malnutrition rates even in the part of Somalia normally considered to be the breadbasket of the country, our reporter says.

Somalia's Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali told the BBC a refugee camp has opened in the capital, Mogadishu.

The government had set aside money to help drought victims, but it had "meagre" resources.

"We are appealing to the international community to take the matter seriously and to act quickly to save as many lives as we can," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

Some 10 million people are said to be affected by the Horn of Africa's worst drought in 60 years.

SOMALIA, wracked by 20 years of conflict, is worst affected and some 3,000 people flee each day for neighbouring countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya which are struggling to cope.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14159182

14 July 2011 Last updated at 19:14 GMT

Horn of Africa drought: Kenya to open Ifo II camp

Kenya has agreed to open a new refugee camp near its border with Somalia, as thousands of people flee the region's worst drought in 60 years.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga said the Ifo II camp, which can fit up to 80,000 people, would open within 10 days.

Some government ministers had feared opening the camp would encourage more Somalis to cross the border.

Announcing the move, Mr Odinga said: "Although we consider our own security, we can't turn away the refugees."

Mr Odinga had earlier visited the nearby Dadaab refugee camp, where he said the situation was unacceptable.

Aid workers say conditions at the camp - which is made up of three settlements - are desperate. About 370,000 people are crammed into an area set up for 90,000 people, they say.

Government 'victim not accused'

But the prime minister rejected criticism that Kenya should have opened Ifo II earlier. He said Kenya had lived with the refugee crisis for 20 years and had been asking the international community for help all that time.

"They are only now responding when they see people are dying. The international community is always very later in acting. So the Kenyan government is a victim, not the accused."

Mr Odinga said Kenya would not take responsibility for the logistics of opening the Ifo II camp.

"It's up to the UNHCR [United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] to work on the modalities and how they can move into Ifo II," Mr Odinga said.

The UNHCR had been urging Kenya to open the camp for the past two years but the government stopped work on it earlier this year, citing security concerns as one of the reasons.

UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres on Monday held talks with Kenya's Internal Security Minister George Saitoti to appeal to him to open the camp.

The BBC's Kevin Mwachiro says the announcement the camp will open could not come at a better time. He says more than 1,300 refugees are crossing into Kenya from war-torn Somalia every day.

'Security threat'

On Wednesday, Kenya's Assistant Internal Security Minister Orwah Ojodeh told the BBC a new camp would not be a solution to the hunger crisis.

Instead, food relief should be provided inside Somalia as hunger, not insecurity, was the reason most refugees were heading for Kenya, he said.

But Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang said he was embarrassed that the government was refusing open the Ifo II camp.

This was despite the fact that the UN had given Kenya tens of thousands of dollars for the camp, he said.

Mr Kajwang blamed the failure to open the camp on security chiefs and officials in President Mwai Kibaki's office.

"The problem is that our provincial administration [officials based in Mr Kibaki's office] and our security officers look at the huge influx as a threat to national security," he said.

"On the other hand, we see it as a crisis that must be managed. It is our responsibility under international law and our own law."

Mark Bowden, the UN humanitarian affairs co-ordinator for Somalia, told the BBC that Somalia was not yet facing a famine, but was "close" to one. "The next few months are critical," he said.

'Breadbasket'

The BBC's Will Ross in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, says the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is exploring every possibility to increasing its presence in Somalia.

However, the WFP says it will not be able to return to areas controlled by the militant Islamist group al-Shabab unless it receives security guarantees.

Last week al-Shabab said it was lifting its ban on foreign aid agencies, provided they did not show a "hidden agenda".

Our reporter says there is clearly a desperate need for more food distribution in Somalia.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is reporting a dramatic rise in malnutrition rates even in the part of Somalia normally considered to be the breadbasket of the country, our reporter says.

Somalia's Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali told the BBC a refugee camp has opened in the capital, Mogadishu. The government had set aside money to help drought victims, but it had "meagre" resources.

"We are appealing to the international community to take the matter seriously and to act quickly to save as many lives as we can," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

Some 10 million people are said to be affected by the Horn of Africa's worst drought in 60 years.

Somalia, wracked by 20 years of conflict, is worst affected. Some 3,000 people flee each day for neighbouring countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya which are struggling to cope.

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SOMALIA SUFFERS FROM GIGANTIC HUNGER DISASTER

The FAMINE in SOUTH SOMALIA is described as the worst disaster in the world right now.

Ten thousands of Somali have moved to KENYA, but many cannot make a several-week-long walk.

- "They are already starving when they start the long walk", says Sofia Malmqvist who works for the Swedish Church in the Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya.

In all of EAST AFRICA, MORE THAN 11 MILLION PEOPLE NEED HELP to overcome the consequences of the grave / serious drought.

The UN warns that one of 3 Somali need humanitarian assistance.

For a long time, al-Shaabab - the leading group in the worst-hit area - forbade all aid from the outside world, but a little more than a week ago they started to ask for help.

The UN's World Food Programme, WFP, considers resuming the activities.

The UN has asked the outside world for the equivalent of about 10.5 billion Swedish kroner, and so far the UN has got half the requested amount.

- We must make the big countries such as JAPAN and the USA contribute. If we succeed in doing that, we should be able to handle this", says the Swedish minister for Development (and Aid) Gunilla Carlsson.

The Dadaab camp - built for 90,000 people - currently houses 400,000 people. Every day 1,300 refugees come to the camp in the hope of being allowed to enter the camp.

Swedish text-TV / SVT Text + Danish TV2 News


Danish TV2 News: FEARS OF OUTBREAK OF CHOLERA AND MEASLES.

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UNICEF: 500,000 CHILDREN IN EAST AFRICA AT RISK OF STARVING TO DEATH

UNICEF wants extended assistance & aid in the region in the Horn of Africa.

AS MANY AS 2 MILLION CHILDREN NEED FOOD AID.

The crisis is not restricted to the thousands of refugees from SOMALIA who are seeking refuge in the neighbouring countries. Affected are also millions of peasants in KENYA and ETHIOPIA. It is the worst drought for 60 years.

Text-TV on German ZDF


THE UN: MILLIONS AFFECTED BY DROUGHT DISASTER IN EAST AFRICA

"It will take another 4-5 months before a harvest can take place", said Anthony Lake, the Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). "We have a huge task before us".

"In many regions, people are already too weak or too poor to look for help. Several factors have triggered the crisis", Mr Lake said. "The conflict in SOMALIA, the increase in petrol/gas prices as well as the increase in food prices and the fact that the rain did not come".

Text-TV on German ZDF

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14178953

17 July 2011 Last updated at 15:31 GMT Share this pageEmail Print Share this page

Somalia drought: UN aid for camps under Islamists

By Martin Plaut / Africa analyst, BBC News

The UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden, says aid is being provided to camps controlled by the Islamist group al-Shabab.

Mr Bowden told the BBC that aid was being given through al-Shabab's drought committees, which run the camps.

Mr Bowden said this could be done as long as the aid was delivered according to humanitarian principles.

He described the situation as so severe that it was vital to scale up aid operations inside Somalia.

The UN's refugee agency estimates that nearly one-and-a-half million Somalis have been forced from their homes but remain in the country.

But until very recently helping them has been very difficult indeed.

Al-Shabab, which rules over large swathes of south and central Somalia, had imposed a ban on foreign aid agencies in its territories two years ago, accusing them of being anti-Muslim.

It lifted the ban 10 days ago as long as groups had "no hidden agenda".

'Humanitarian principles'

Mark Bowden said that aid was being delivered to camps run by committees under the supervision of al-Shabab, despite the movement's known allegiance to al-Qaeda.

But he made it clear that this could only proceed as long as humanitarian aid was delivered free of any political connotations.

"The Shabab have, as I understand it, through their drought committees been distributing assistance to vulnerable groups of the population, so they have taken an interest and expressed concern.

"It is of course important to also recognise that the work that we do in these areas will be conducted under humanitarian principles and based on need and without any political association attached to the assistance," said Mr Bowden.

On Wednesday the UN has made its first aid delivery to drought victims in areas of Somalia controlled by the militants, since they lifted an aid ban.

UN children's organisation Unicef said al-Shabab had given UN workers unhindered access and hoped this would encourage other agencies.

'Close to famine'

Unicef airlifted food and medicine to malnourished children to the central town of Baidoa, more than 200km (about 125 miles) north-west of the capital, Mogadishu.

The Unicef representative for Somalia, Rozanne Chorlton, said al-Shabab had assured the agency it could operate without undue interference.

"They gave assurances that our access for humanitarian purposes would be unhindered and that we would be able to reach the people who need support most," Ms Chorlton told the BBC.

Unicef paid no fees to al-Shabab, and that the success of the mission meant it would be repeated in the near future, she added.

She warned the situation was close to famine.

On Sunday the first in a series of UN refugee agency emergency flights arrived in Nairobi with 100 tonnes of tents.

The cargo was immediately off-loaded for transport by road convoy early in the week to the sprawling Dadaab refugee camp complex near the Kenya-Somalia border.

The flight was the first of five scheduled for Nairobi on alternate days this week from the UNHCR regional stockpile in Dubai.

[nancyk58]

EU MILLIONS MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO CONTINUE ASSISTANCE AND RELIEF FOR STARVING PEOPLE IN SOMALIA.

ECHO, EUs humanitarian fund grants the equivalent of 30 million Danish kroner to the starving people in SOMALIA.

That means that the Danish Refugee Council can continue their efforts to help the starving people in the form of soup kitchens in the capital MOGADISHU until the end of 2011.

The press release from the Danish Refugee Council:

"The soup kitchens were a temporary solution to help the most needy in Mogadishu. But the drought has worsened the situation. Therefore, we are pleased that ECHO has enabled us to continue our efforts also after August 2011."

[nancyk58]

UN: FAMINE IN SOMALIA

Several periods of drought in the Horn of Africa has led to FAMINE in 2 regions in South Somalia - namely in the Bakool province and in areas around the lower part of the Shabelle river. So United Nations' office for coordination of humanitarian aid in Nairobi reported Wednesday before noon.

About 3.7 million people are in URGENT NEED of help corresponding to almost half of Somalia's population.

Conflicts / Civil wars have made humanitarian aid difficult.

During the last few weeks, more and more alarm reports on the widespread and grave hunger have reached the outside world.

The UN has not formally called the disaster a FAMINE, because several criteria have to be met to describe a disaster as a famine.

One criteria for describing a disaster as a famine is that more than 30% of all children are malnourished and 4 out of 10,000 die every day.

Today, Swedish Red Cross decided to send the equivalent of 7 million Swedish kroner in aid to SOMALIA.

According to OXFAM, 1 billion US dollar (or 700 million Euro) is needed in aid. According to the UN, the pledges so far from the international community are not sufficient.

Reported on text-TV in Denmark (TV2 News / DR1), Sweden (SVT) and Germany (ZDF text)

[nancyk58]

http://www.care2.com/causes/un-decla...s-helping.html

UN Declares Famine in Somalia: Why Isn’t the US Helping?

by Amelia T. July 20, 2011 9:52 am

For the first time in 19 years, the UN declared that a famine has engulfed several regions of Somalia, the drought-stricken country from which hundreds of thousands of refugees are fleeing.

An estimated 11 million people are in desperate need of food assistance.

In southern Somalia, according to the UN, over 300,000 people are suffering from acute malnutrition.

But cumbersome legislative hurdles, created in response to Somalia’s turbulent political situation, are making it difficult for the United States to offer aid.

The last time the UN declared a famine in the region was in 1984-85, when 1 million people died in Ethiopia.

According to the Guardian, a famine is technically defined as:

“A mortality rate of more than two people per 10,000 per day;
acute malnutrition reaching more than 30%;
water consumption becoming less than four litres a day;
and intake of kilocalories of 1,500 a day compared with the recommended 2,100 a day.”

The refugees who are fleeing to camps in Kenya and Ethiopia are arriving with malnutrition, which is proving especially deadly for small children.

The camps are ill-equipped to handle the volume of people who need their help, in part because aid has been slow in coming.

In parts of Somalia, 1 in 10 children are at risk of starving to death.

Oxfam has accused several European countries (France, Italy and Denmark) of “willful neglect” with regard to the crisis.

If we don’t act now, famine will spread to all eight regions of southern Somalia within two months, due to poor harvests and infectious disease outbreaks,” said Mark Bowden, the humanitarian coordinator for Somalia.

”We still do not have all the resources for food, clean water, shelter and health services to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of Somalis in desperate need.”

The United States has legislative and bureaucratic hurdles to overcome before aid can be sent. In 2009, Somalia’s militant Islamic governing group, al-Shabaab, banned foreign aid groups from the country. Now they have reversed the ban, showing just how severe the crisis is.
Many US-funded groups are eager to return to Somalia, but they are still blocked by legal restrictions against aid to the country.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that she would “test” whether al-Shabaab is ready to receive help for its citizens, but with famine conditions, assistance can’t come quickly enough. A humanitarian crisis is clearly looming, and Somalia, as well as its neighboring countries, need all the help they can get.

Don’t delay! Sign the Care2 petition, telling President Obama and his administration to make aid to Somalia a priority.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/34/pr...id-to-somalia/




Related Stories:

Actress Kristin Davis Breaks Down Over Conditions in Somalia

Thousands of Children Die as They Flee Somalia’s Drought

Somali Refugee Camps “Barely Fit For Humans”


Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/un-decla...#ixzz1SkOpiKxF


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14222584

20 July 2011 Last updated at 20:35 GMT

US 'to aid Islamist areas of famine-hit Somalia'

The US has said it will send aid to famine-hit areas of Somalia controlled by the Islamist group al-Shabab.

But US aid officials say assurances must be given that the insurgents will not interfere with its distribution.

The US considers al-Shabab a terrorist group and last year stopped aid to the large area of Somalia it controls.

The UN has declared a famine in two areas of southern Somalia as the region experiences the worst drought in more than half a century.

Al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group which controls large swathes of south and central Somalia, had imposed a ban on foreign aid agencies in its territories in 2009, but has recently allowed limited access.

The deputy administrator of the US Agency for International Development, Donald Steinberg, said the aid must not benefit al-Shabab.

"What we need is assurances from the World Food Programme and from other agencies, the United Nations or other agencies, both public and in the non-governmental sector, who are willing to go into Somalia who will tell us affirmatively that they are not being taxed by al-Shabab, they are not being subjected to bribes from al-Shabab, that they can operate unfettered," Mr Steinberg told the BBC.

He said the goal was to save lives, "not to play a game of 'gotcha' with a UN agency or any other group that is brave enough to go in and provide that assistance".

BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut says this marks a considerable change in policy from Washington.

In April 2010 US President Barack Obama issued an executive order naming al-Shabab a terrorist organisation, meaning no US aid could go to areas under its control, our analyst adds.

'Dangerously inadequate'

An estimated 10 million people have been affected in East Africa by the worst drought in more than half a century. More than 166,000 desperate Somalis are estimated to have fled their country to neighbouring Kenya or Ethiopia.

The UN said the humanitarian situation in Somalia's southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle districts had deteriorated rapidly and declared them to be suffering a famine.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said new funds to help the country were desperately needed.

"The overall requirement is $1.6bn (£990m) for Somalia, roughly $300m is needed in the next two months to provide an adequate response to famine-affected areas. Children and adults are dying at an appalling rate," Mr Ban said.

Nearly half the Somali population - 3.7 million people - were in crisis, he said, with most of them in the south.

The BBC's Africa correspondent Andrew Harding says the emotive word "famine" is used rarely and carefully by humanitarian organisations, and it is the first time since 1992 that the word has been applied to a situation in Somalia.

The UK Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell, said the response by many European and developed countries to the crisis in the Horn of Africa had been "derisory and dangerously inadequate".

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that Washington would provide an extra $28m in emergency aid to counter the famine.

She said the US had already provided $431m this year in emergency aid to the Horn of Africa, but that was "not enough".

Drought, conflict and poverty have now combined to produce the necessary conditions for famine.

Those conditions include more than 30% of children being acutely malnourished, and four children out of every 10,000 dying daily.

Save the Children's Sonia Zambakides told the BBC the situation in Somalia was shocking.

"I was talking to mothers with children, the children looked maybe nine months to one year old - the mothers were telling the children were three and four years old, so they are absolutely tiny."

She said some of the mothers had walked up to six days with no food to try to find help.

In Somalia's war-ravaged capital, Mogadishu, the BBC's Mohamed Mwalimu says more than 4,000 people are crammed into one camp, called Safety.

Families have built their own homes at the camp with tree branches, wood and plastic sheets, he says.

Some children look like skeletons while others have swollen legs and hands, he adds.

One woman he met arrived after a long trip, much of it on foot, carrying her one-and-a-half-year-old son on her back - only to realise, when she arrived, that he was dead.

The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs for Somalia said the ongoing conflict in Somalia had made it extremely difficult for agencies to access communities in the south, which are controlled by al-Shabab.

"If we don't act now, famine will spread to all eight regions of southern Somalia within two months, due to poor harvests and infectious disease outbreaks," said the UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden.

He said discussions with al-Shabab about the safe distribution of food aid were taking place at a local level, and that responses were expected to differ depending on the locality.



DEC appeal: East Africa drought

The Disasters Emergency Committee is an umbrella organisation in the UK representing a number of aid agencies

To make a donation in the UK call 0370 60 60 900 (charged at national rate)
OR visit the website www.dec.org.uk

Guardian.co.uk
Somalia famine: US pledges a further $28m in aid
1 hr ago

Reuters UK
U.N. calls emergency meeting on east Africa famine
3 hrs ago

Mirror.co.uk
Somalia famine: Urgent call for action as Horn of Africa suffers
4 hrs ago

Channel 4
A new generation dying in Somalia's famine
7 hrs ago

New Scientist
Somalia: How the UN defines a famine
19 hrs ago


10.7 MILLION PEOPLE IN NEED OF HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE

25% OF SOMALIA's 7.5 MILLION PEOPLE ARE DISPLACED



FOOD INSECURE POPULATIONS:

ETHIOPIA - 4.56 MILLION

SOMALIA - 2.85 MILLION

KENYA - 2.4 MILLION

SOURCE: OCHA (The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs), Fews net



Definition of Famine

- More than 30% of children must be suffering from acute malnutrition

- Two adults or four children must be dying of hunger each day for every group of 10,000 people

- The population must have access to far below 2,100 kilocalories of food per day


http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/0...76K2B820110721

U.N. calls emergency meeting on east Africa famine

(Reuters) - The United Nations has called an emergency meeting on July 25 to discuss mobilising aid for drought-stricken east Africa, where famine has been declared in parts of Somalia.

A wide swathe of east Africa, including Kenya and Ethiopia, has been hit by years of severe drought and the United Nations says two regions of southern Somalia are suffering the worst famine for 20 years, with 3.7 million people facing starvation.

United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation announced an emergency meeting at its Rome headquarters on Monday to be attended by ministers and senior representatives from its 191 member countries, other U.N. bodies, NGOs and regional development banks.

The meeting was called at the request of France, current president of the Group of 20 leading economies.

British charity Oxfam accused several European governments Wednesday of wilful neglect in reacting to the crisis, with an $800 million (494 million pounds) aid shortfall slowing the international response.

Years of anarchic conflict in southern Somalia have exacerbated the emergency, preventing aid agencies from helping communities in the area. Nearly 135,000 Somalis have fled since January, mainly to neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia, with many small children dying during the journey.

Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda, who control much of southern and central Somalia, imposed a ban on food aid in 2010, but lifted it earlier this month as the crisis worsened.

(editing by Elizabeth Piper)

Text-TV on Swedish SVT: UN CALLS EMERGENCY MEETING (ON 25.7) ON EAST AFRICA FAMINE

The purpose is to mobilise aid for drought-stricken East Africa.

ALMOST 12 MILLION PEOPLE ARE IN DESPERATE NEED OF HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE OF WHICH 3.7 MILLION ARE IN SOMALIA.


Text-TV on German ZDF: UN AIRLIFT FOR CHILDREN IN MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

The organization WFP - World Food Program - will carry out an airlift in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. So far World Food Program provides 1.5 million Somalis with food. The goal is to reach additional 2.2 million in the inaccessible South.

[nancyk58]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14246764

22 July 2011 Last updated at 13:24 GMT

Somali Islamists maintain aid ban and deny famine

Somalia's al-Shabab Islamists have denied lifting their ban on some Western aid agencies and say UN reports of famine are "sheer propaganda".

The UN on Wednesday said that parts of Somalia were suffering a famine after the worst drought in 60 years.

A spokesman for al-Shabab, which has ties to al-Qaeda and controls much of the country, accused the banned groups of being political.

But the UN insists famine exists and it will continue its aid efforts.

Most Western aid agencies quit Somalia in 2009 following al-Shabab's threats, though some say they have managed to continue operating through local partners.

Some 10 million people are said to need food aid across East Africa but Somalia is by far the worst-affected country, as there is no national government to co-ordinate aid after two decades of fighting.

Thousands of people are fleeing areas under al-Shabab control to camps set up in areas of the capital controlled by the weak interim government, which is battling the Islamist insurgents.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) was one of those banned.

It says it is planning to airlift food into the capital, Mogadishu, in the coming days to help the thousands of malnourished children who face starvation in the country.

"We are absolutely adamant that there are famine conditions in two regions of south Somalia," WFP's Africa spokesman David Orr told the BBC.

"We've seen the evidence of the emergency in the faces and wasted limbs of the malnourished children who are being forced to trek out of the famine zone, sometimes for days and for weeks."

WFP spokesperson Emilia Casella said the agency would continue to operate where it was possible to do so.

"Al-Shabab is not a monolithic organisation. It's important to note that we're working where we can; we're making plans to work where it's feasible," she told AFP news agency.

The UN's children's agency Unicef said it was increasingly relying on its local partners but had been able to continue its operations.

"At the moment what we are trying to do is to look at how we can scale up our programmes and get more supplementary and therapeutic food into these area where we have the extreme starvation going on," spokeswoman Shantha Bloeman told the BBC.

"Yes, WFP had serious restrictions on it but as far as our operations are concerned we have been operating throughout."

Blame game

The two districts where a famine has been declared - Bakool and Lower Shabelle - are under al-Shabab control and aid agencies have been wary of resuming activities there amid fears for the safety of their staff.

Al-Shabab spokesman Ali Mohamud Rage earlier this month announced that aid agencies, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, would be allowed back into Somalia as long as they had "no hidden agenda".

This had prompted the US to say it was lifting its ban on allowing its food relief into areas controlled by al-Shabab, which it calls a terrorist group.

However, Mr Rage told journalists in Mogadishu on Thursday night: "The agencies we banned are still banned. The agencies were involved in political activities."

He admitted there was a drought but said reports of a famine were "utter nonsense, 100% baseless and sheer propaganda.

"There is drought in Somalia and shortage of rain but it is not as bad as they put it."

Rashid Abdi, a Somalia analyst at the International Crisis Group think-tank, told Reuters news agency that al-Shabab were trying to avoid being "seen as people who oversaw a large-scale humanitarian disaster".

BBC Somali editor Yusuf Garaad Omar says food aid - as supplied by WFP - is sensitive for al-Shabab as it would like to ensure it goes to regions it controls, rather than government areas.

He also says that a lot of money can be made from transporting food. Helping women and children - the work Unicef does - is less of an issue, he says.

Mr Orr said the situation had been made much worse for many people by the restrictions on access for aid agencies.

"We are appealing for access as humanitarian aid workers. People, as I have said, are starving to death in there. This is a life and death situation," he told the BBC.

"We wouldn't be in this situation had the humanitarian community had access.

"We are appealing to all parties who have an interest in this situation to allow us to go in there and to get the aid in, in as fast and efficient a manner as possible."

More than 166,000 desperate Somalis are estimated to have fled their country to neighbouring Kenya or Ethiopia in recent months.

On Wednesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said $300m (£184m) was needed in the next two months to provide an adequate response to the areas affected by famine.



Agencies banned by al-Shabab

Care
International Medical Corps
UNDP
WFP


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14253766

22 July 2011 Last updated at 14:34 GMT

EU must do more on East Africa famine - David Cameron

David Cameron has said other EU countries must do more to aid the famine-hit Horn of Africa.

The UK prime minister said Britain had spent £90m - but it was time other countries "stepped up to the plate".

Labour leader Ed Miliband also called on other countries, including the US, to "do a far better job" .

The UN said parts of Somalia were suffering a famine after the worst drought in 60 years, also affecting Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Sudan.

Some 10 million people are said to need food aid across East Africa but Somalia is by far the worst-affected country.

'Humanitarian emergency'

Speaking after an hour long meeting with members of the Somali community in Birmingham, Mr Cameron said: "Britain is showing very strong leadership.

"We have done the most and my aid minister has been to the Horn of Africa to see for himself what needs to be done.

"We have three-and-a-half million people affected by famine and two million of those are not getting any help.

"It's time for other European countries to start doing what Britain is doing, and to give more to make sure the aid gets through and we save lives."

Mr Cameron acknowledged long-term solutions were required in Somalia, to strengthen its government but stressed that more aid was urgently needed to prevent people dying.

"We have given a large amount of money - £90m, more than other countries.

"It's time, frankly, for other countries to step up to the plate and recognise what's happening," added Mr Cameron.

'Totally unacceptable'

Mr Miliband - speaking on a visit to the Disasters Emergency Committee offices in London - said the British public "are to be thanked" for the £27m they have donated to the East Africa Crisis Appeal.

But the Opposition leader added: "There is a huge humanitarian emergency in Somalia and Ethiopia. That's why we've got to get European governments to start stumping up the money, because so far they haven't.

"The British government is doing a good job on this, but the other European governments, the United States, need to do a far better job, because half a billion pounds is needed."

He added: "We've got 10 million people at the moment who are in very difficult circumstances, facing the terrible drought, and we need those governments as well as the public to now show that they are going to give the money that is required."

DEC Chief Executive Brendan Gormley said the British public had been "stunningly generous", but added: "The gap between what is needed and what can be paid for is still sadly enormous."

The money donated would go to the "absolute basics of life" including clean water, food and shelter, he added.

It comes as aid charity Unicef prepared to airlift a further 105 tonnes of food and medical supplies to the region.

So far 1,300 tonnes of emergency supplies have been sent to the area.

Unicef's UK executive director David Bull said: "We have stepped up our response even more as the death rate among severely malnourished children under the age of five in Lower Shabelle in south Somalia has climbed dramatically.

"They are now dying at a rate of more than 250 per day - that's one child every six minutes. This is totally unacceptable and we must all act now to help save lives."

The charity estimates it will need £62.8m over the next six months to help children affected by the drought.



From text-TV for German TV Channel 2 = ZDF Text: MILITSIA BANS INTERNATIONAL AID / RELIEF FOR STARVING POPULATION

Germany has so far sent 14 million Euro to the starving population in East Africa.


Text-TV for Danish TV2 News: 11 MILLION AFFECTED BY DROUGHT

Many ETHIOPIANS must sell their extremely thin cows and goats because the drought in the Horn of Africa has dried out the water ponds / pools.

UN's World Food Programme feeds 3½ million people during the drought, whereas 1 million other Ethiopians get help from other organizations. This according to Danish Andreas Hansen, who is a WPF employee.

"Many Ethiopians are affected by hunger and drought. MORE THAN 4½ MILLION PEOPLE IN ETHIOPIA NEED FOOD AID. They live in their villages where they can normally feed themselves", he says.


Text-TV for the Swedish SVT: CONTINUED AID BAN IN SOMALIA

The Islamistic movement al-Shabaab which controls the areas worst hit by drought and famine in Somalia will not allow certain relief organizations to operate there.

This statement published on the radio contradicts information given earlier according to which the movement sent a plea for help and welcomed the UN's declaration of famine in the country.

Swedish Diakonia is one of the banned relief organizations. Before that US organizations and then the UN were asked to leave.

[nancyk58]

Monday 25.7.11: Donor Conference against famine in Nairobi, Kenya (text-TV on German ZDF).

Ten thousands have died due to the drought / famine. FAO (UNs Organization for Food and Agriculture) has adopted an "Action Plan" at the donor conference in Nairobi. Apart from emergency relief / aid, also long-term precautionary measures.


Monday 25.7.11 An emergency meeting was held in Rome, Italy.

Much more Tuesday (too tired to write it down here from my notes).

[Saffire]

10,000 died from this drought? It's amazing how we don't hear about it at all on the news here!

I guess brown people really aren't that important to the US media.

[nancyk58]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14283502

26 July 2011 Last updated at 15:22 GMT

Somalia famine: WFP delays airlift of food to Mogadishu

The UN World Food Programme says it is delaying airlifting food to Somalia's capital for administrative reasons.

It was to be the first airlift of food aid since the UN declared a famine in two areas of Somalia last week.

Islamists, who control most of Somalia, have banned the WFP from their areas and thousands of people are fleeing towards the capital in search of food.

Somali Foreign Minister Mohamed Ibrahim has warned more than 3.5 million people "may starve to death" in his country.

Al-Shabab, which has ties to al-Qaeda, has accused the groups it has banned from its territories of being political.

Before the postponement, WFP spokesman David Orr had told the AFP news agency that the flights were waiting only for clearance forms to be completed before taking off.

When the airlifts begin, the aid will be flown from Kenya to Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, where the weak interim government - backed by an African Union peace force - controls only parts of the city.

The 14 tonnes of Plumpy'nut, a peanut-based paste high in protein and energy primarily targeted at malnourished children, was flown from France to Kenya on Monday.

Similar flights are also due to take aid into the Ethiopian town of Dolo Ado, from where it can be moved across the border into Jubaland, a sliver of land held by Somalia's pro-government forces just west of famine-hit Bakool.

Samosas banned

Tens of thousands of Somalis have been fleeing al-Shabab areas and heading to Mogadishu and neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia in search of food.

The UN refugee agency said on Tuesday that some 100,000 people had arrived in Mogadishu and settlements around the city in search of food and water in the past two months.

WFP head Josette Sheeran announced the emergency aid flights on Monday at an East Africa drought crisis meeting in Rome - called by France, which chairs the G20 group of developed and emerging economies.

The UN estimates more than 1.5 million Somalis are internally displaced by hunger - most of them in central and southern Somalia, where 75% of the territory is controlled by al-Shabab.

In Rome, Mr Ibrahim highlighted UN estimates that "more than 3.5 million Somalis, the vast majority of them in the insurgent-held areas, may starve to death".

But the director of the international charity Goal, John O'Shea, told the BBC that the UN's response to Somalia's political crisis had worsened the crisis.

He said the UN Security Council should have authorised a sizeable force of peacekeepers to end years of conflict in Somalia.

"We wouldn't have four million Somalis starving if they sent in UN peacekeepers," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

Somalia has 9,200 African Union peacekeepers out of a promised 20,000 - all of them based in Mogadishu.

In a separate development, al-Shabab has banned the sale of beef and samosas in the famine-hit Lower Shabelle region.

It said traders were selling rotten meat from cattle that had died because of the famine. This was un-Islamic and threatened the health of people, al-Shabab said.

The BBC's Mohamed Dore in Mogadishu says al-Shabab has extended the ban to samosas, a popular savoury often filled with mince - accusing traders of stuffing the snack with cat meat.

Somalia is thought to be worst-hit by the crisis, but Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti have also been affected.

More than 10 million people in the region are thought to be at risk of starvation.


Text-TV on German broadcast station 2, ZDF text:

DONOR CONFERENCE TO BE HELD ON WEDNESDAY 27.7.11 IN NAIROBI, KENYA

So far Germany has pledged 30 million Euro in emergency aid.


Text-TV on German ZDF, Danish DR1, Danish TV2 News and Swedish SVT:

In Somalia thousands have fled to Mogadishu to find food, water and shelter. 40,000 starving people have fled to Mogadishu in July alone. In June and July, 100,000 exhausted people have arrived in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu from South Somalia.

30,000 additional people have arrived in camps close to Mogadishu.

3.7 million Somali - or 1/3 of the population - are threatened by hunger.

UNs World Food Programme, WFP prepares to airlift packages to 2.2 million people in South Somalia - areas controlled by al-Shabaab militsia.

[chuck kottke]

This is the world we live in - we're waiting to get clearance to fly 14 tonnes of France's finest Plumpy'nut to Somalis in need. What a name for a product! Gotta laugh sometimes, or all we do is cry.
Oh lord, why can't this operation get underway? Waiting is deadly, better get that Plumpy'nut in the air!
I just don't get it. If the problems are the result of resource struggles over water and food, which cripples the economy, and further destabilize the people, why not just get things going?
Send it! Work with the difficult people if need be, but when health and life are at stake, there's no time to dicker.
Then, do the necessary things to conserve water resources - send equipment, build earthen berms to catch water during downpours, save it for dry spells. Drill wells, set up pumps, run them with wind and solar that is perennial there.
If necessary, pump brackish water, salty water, set up desalination plants in Mogadishu, start a green economy there to do it.
They'll run with the ball, given them a chance - just prime the pump.

You know, if we here in the US spent 1/10th the money we spend on military, we could help solve all these problems, and end the frustrations that lead some to the extreme. The peace dividend requires a peace investment. And once established, the democracies would seed themselves, green the deserts, and return a world of peace and prosperity for all.