Knap tre millioner mennesker er direkte påvirket af den omfattende humanitære krise i Somalia. Hver tredje somalier har brug for hjælp og blot 12 procent af de fornødne nødhjælpsmidler er i hus. Vi må ikke svigte dem igen, lyder det fra NGO’erne bag ny, fælles Somalia-kampagne.
NAIROBI, 7 May 2014 (IRIN): Three years after a famine claimed 260,000 lives in Somalia, 2.9 million people there are still affected by a multifaceted but desperately underfunded humanitarian crisis, and communities are just “one shock away from disaster”, a host of aid agencies have warned in a joint campaign entitled “Risk of relapse.”
“With a third of the population in need of aid, Somalia is clearly in severe crisis,” according to a statement signed by 22 NGOs.
Just 12 percent of Somalia’s humanitarian funding requirements for the year have been met, and there is a shortfall of 822 million US dollar (ca. 4,5 milliarder DKR).
The organizations also launched a social media campaign, saying “we can’t fail them again.”
World Vision noted that rains have failed across most of Somalia, and the recent upsurge in the military offensive by AMISOM has led to greater displacement in the south.
“What we have is an early warning that has ingredients of a perfect storm. We urge donors and stakeholders to take immediate action to avert disaster,” said Andrew Lanyon, Chief of Party for the Somalia Resilience Programme (SomReP), an organization that World Vision is a member of, during a briefing in Nairobi.
194 cases of polio have also been documented in 2013, according to the US Centers for Disease Control.
While the situation is dire, the campaign notes that “the sad truth is that these statistics from Somalia are better than previous years, so this is celebrated as a success.” But, the organizations argued, “we should measure progress against minimum standards, not gains made against an already terrible situation.”
Insecurity in most parts of the country
High levels of insecurity have made it very difficult for everyday Somalis and humanitarian organizations to operate. In Mogadishu, fear of attack and crime prevents many from leading normal lives.
“The latest face-to-face clashes between Somali government troops and Al-Shabab have badly affected our way of life and many people lost their lives. In this place nobody rules, so residents live under constant fear,” one resident of Heliwaa who preferred anonymity told IRIN.
International humanitarian organizations also have limited access to those in need, because of the security situation, generally requiring armed protection when travelling around Mogadishu and the rest of the country. Terror attacks by Islamist group Al-Shabab are frequent.
“Sometimes we use armed escorts,” said Ahmad Mohamed Hassan, president of the Somali Red Crescent, at a recent event in Nairobi. “It’s not our intention to defend ourselves from them, but it’s an issue of crime… Law and order has totally collapsed.”
The recent AMISOM military offensive against Al-Shabab “has created a new wave of displaced persons (fordrevne) in addition to previously displaced people,” World Vision noted in a press statement. Currently, Somalia has an estimated 1.1 million displaced across the country.
Women, children have it worst
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http://www.irinnews.org/report/100051/somalia-at-risk-of-relapse
