En femtedel af børnene i Somalia er nu så underernærede, at det truer deres liv. Flere års tørke og fornyede udbrud af væbnet konflikt i landet på Afrikas Horn betyder, at 90 procent af alle børn, der har behov for supplerende ernæring og/eller livreddende behandling, er afskåret fra hjælp.
Her den fulde pressemeddelelse fra UNICEF og WFP i Somalia, hvor danskeren Christian Balslev-Olesen er landechef for UNICEF. Han har tidl. bl.a. været generalsekretær for Folkekirkens Nødhjælp
NAIROBI – Recent outbreaks of fighting and the worst drought in a decade have pushed many people in Somalia to their limit, creating the bleakest malnutrition situation in years, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) said Friday.
Somalia Country Representatives Zlatan Milisic of WFP and Christian Balslev-Olesen of UNICEF said this alarming situation was compounded by the difficulty in reaching the 1,7 million people in Somalia who needed help in the wake of last seasons devastating drought.
They said current malnutrition rates are “acute.” At 23 per cent they are well above the 15 per cent that signals an emergency. In southern Somalia, five surveys since January found that one fifth of children under five were so malnourished they needed supplementary or therapeutic feeding.
An estimated 58.000 children need targeted feeding but current programmes reach less than 10 per cent of these.
With insecurity and access issues having hindered efforts to expand these programmes, both Milisic and Balslev-Olesen said it was essential that WFPs general food distributions get underway immediately. They are calling on Somali authorities, donors and others to take urgent action over the next 10 weeks to get food and other assistance through to those most in need.
– August to September is the earliest that we can expect any harvest from the current rains – until then many children and families will continue to have nothing,” Milisic said, adding: – And for pastoralists whose animals died in the drought, it means little. For them, recovery will take much, much longer. This is not an optimistic outlook.
Balslev-Olesen said the rising malnutrition rates showed clearly the effects of the drought that hit Somalia and the Horn of Africa when last years rains failed – made worse in many areas of Somalia because fighting and rampant insecurity blocked access with desperately needed assistance.
– We must act now. The present calm, following weeks of fighting, offers an opportunity that the Somali and international communities must grasp to get assistance to thousands of malnourished children and their families, Balslev-Olesen said, as he explained that UNICEF nutritional supplements for children had to be delivered together with general food assistance from WFP for whole families if they were to be effective.
According to Milisic, in 2006 WFP has so far delivered 32.000 metric tons of food assistance to 1,15 million people in southern Somalia – the area worst affected by the drought – as well as a further 4.000 metric tons to people in northern areas.
Although this in itself was a major achievement in one of the most difficult operating environments in the world, he said WFP and its partners were well aware that more was needed.
Somalias plight was also slipping out of sight, he said, with the start of the rains in April leading some people outside the country to assume that the worst of the crisis was over. – There is a perception (forestilling om) that once the rains start, the droughts effects are washed away – but that just is not the case, especially for pastoralists (hyrdefolkene), Milisic said.
Though there could be no proper assessment of the rainy season until late June or early July, early indications were not overly promising, Milisic said. – Normal or somewhat below normal rains are what the experts are pointing to at the moment, he said.
WFP needs 42,5 million US dollar to give food aid to 1,1 million in the south for the remainder of this year because of drought and provide the full food basket in its rations including corn-soya blend, pulses (bælgfrugter) and vegetable oil to prevent a further deterioration in the nutritional status of people likely to remain reliant on food aid for the coming months.
WFP targets another 1,1 million people in other parts of the country with ongoing livelihood support activities.
So far this year, WFP in Somalia has received contributions from Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Turkey, Sweden, Britains Department for International Development, the United States, the UN and private donors.
UNICEF needs 4 million dollar in additional funding for nutrition and related interventions.
For more information contact:
Christian Balslev-Olesen, Representative, UNICEF Somalia. Email: [email protected] Tel: +254-20-623950/53/55/70. Mobile: +254-722-514-569/733-629-933.
Denise Shepherd-Johnson, Head, Communication and External Relations, UNICEF Somalia. Tel: +254-20-623958. Mobile: +254-722-719-867. Email: [email protected].
Karin Aaen, Head, Communication Dept., UNICEF/Danmark, Email: [email protected], Tel. 25 39 60 99
WFP about WFP
WFP is the worlds largest humanitarian agency: each year, we give food to an average of 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs, including 61 million hungry children, in at least 80 of the worlds poorest countries. See also www.wfp.dk
UNICEF about UNICEF
For 60 years UNICEF has been the worlds leader for children, working on the ground in 155 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence.
The worlds largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. Visit also www.unicef.org/somalia
