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UN Dispatch

Received in email today:

‘For the first time since 1984, the United Nations has declared a famine in East Africa.  Worse, UN officials said that the famine in two regions of southern Somalia may spread elsewhere in the war-weary country.

The famine was precipitated by the worst drought in 60 years. This has sparked a massive population flow as families scramble to leave famine stricken lands for refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia.  Some 3,000 refugees are arriving daily according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).  “They are walking for days and days and days to reach the camps,”  Charity Tooze of UNHCR tells me. “Children are dying when they get to the camps. They have traveled too far.”

Humanitarian access to the region is complicated by that fact that Southern Somalia is largely under the control of al Shabaab, a militant group dedicated to overthrowing the internationally-backed Somali government. al Shabaab has a record of attacking humanitarian groups and the United Nations in the past. 

Humanitarian assistance for the Horn of Africa is about $1 billion short of its funding targets, though there will be a major pledging conference in Rome on Monday. This is an extremely perilous situation. Visit the UN Refugee Agency, the World Food Program or other trusted organizations for ways to help.

As always, please check back with UN Dispatch for more news and analysis on this evolving situation.’ 

Mark Leon Goldberg
Editor, UN Dispatch