SOMALIA - UN:Time for immediate action on famine - Tens of thousands of Somalis have already died and more than 3.2 million others are on the brink of starvation

[Ronan Kelly]

10 are reportedly lost live for starvation in central Somalia
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

20 Aprill 2011



ABUDWAK (Mareeg) ? As droughts hit many regions in southern and central Somalia, at least 10 people perished of hunger, starvation and thirst in Ethiopia administrated Somalia region.


Reports from Somali regions under Ethiopia control say the drought continues to claim the lives of both Human Being and domestic animals.

...

http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.php?sid=19436&tirsan=3

[alert]

Re: Drought in Somalia, 10 starvation fatalities.

Abudwak district is the exact same district where a "mystery outbreak" occurred last year, where the source said it couldn't even describe the symptoms:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=148622

It is unclear whether this is related.

[Pathfinder]

Re: Drought in Somalia, 10 starvation fatalities.

SOMALIA: Halima Omar, "I watched four of my children die of hunger"

Photo: UNDP

Drought has forced thousands of Somali families to migrate to urban areas (file photo)

NAIROBI, 4 July 2011 (IRIN) - With 100 heads of cattle, Halima Omar's family were considered fairly well off in their community in Da'ara village in Somalia's Lower Shebelle region. However, after three years of consecutive drought, the herd has been reduced to nothing and the family has been displaced.

Omar, 30, has buried four of her children, who died of hunger, and is now one of thousands of drought-displaced people migrating to urban centres in search of help in southern Somalia.

Omar's home is a makeshift shelter in a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), with more than 3,000 families (18,000 people) near Kurtunwarey district, 140km south of the capital, Mogadishu. A community leader in the camp told IRIN that trucks were picking up emaciated families by the roadsides and dropping them off at the nearest urban centres.

Omar survives on the good will of the local community. She spoke to IRIN on 4 July:

"We were very comfortable when we had our animals. We were one of the better-off families in Da'ara. But this changed when we lost our last cow five months ago. They died one by one. We could not even sell them.

More...
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx

[Pathfinder]

UN declares famine in Somalia

UN declares famine in Somalia

Report
?
Danish Refugee Council
20 Jul 2011

The humanitarian crisis in southern Somalia has now been declared a famine by the UN. The Danish Refugee Council delivers emergency assistance to more than 150,000 people in the area, and the organisation is dedicated to raising more funds to increase the relief efforts. More than 3.7 million Somalis or one third of the population is now dependent on humanitarian aid - most of them from southern Somalia, where UN today announced a famine. Danish Refugee Council distributes water, food and non-food items every day, but the need is enormous.

"The situation in southern Somalia is disastrous and, as one of the largest international NGOs in Somalia, the Danish Refugee Council is ready to take on additional responsibilities. We will increase our focus on collecting funds from public and private donors, so we can increase our efforts, "says Secretary General of the Danish Refugee Council Andreas Kamm.

More...

http://reliefweb.int/node/426970

[Pathfinder]

Re: UN declares famine in Somalia

SOMALIA: Time for immediate action on famine - UN

MOGADISHU/NAIROBI, 20 July 2011 (IRIN) - The humanitarian crisis in Somalia has degenerated into a famine in two regions and could get worse because respite from drought, a major cause of the crisis, which is compounded by insecurity, lack of aid and food price inflation, is unlikely until December or January 2012, the UN warned.

"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," Mark Bowden, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, said.

Immediate action was required to avoid famine spreading to all eight regions of southern Somalia. ?Every day of delay is literally a matter of life or death for children and their families in the famine-affected areas," Bowden told a news conference in Nairobi on 20 July.

?This is a time for exceptional actions? in terms of the speed at which aid is delivered, and the conditions under which donors should be willing to give, he added.
...

Mounting death toll

"Some 11,000 people have died due to drought in the past 45 days, 9,000 of them in the Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions, the rest in other regions in south-central Somalia," Abdikadir Hirsi Shekhdon, a member of the government drought committee, said in Mogadishu.

?The government and the public are helping the vulnerable people," he added. "For example, the president has distributed 1,000 tents, 1,000 blankets and 1,000 mats to some of the displaced in Mogadishu."

But with nearly half of the Somali population - 3.7 million people - in crisis, of whom an estimated 2.8 million people are in the south, the scale of the crisis is huge...


Full text:

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=93280

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: SOMALIA: Time for immediate action on famine - UN

7/23/11 10:59 AM

Geneva
Famine Victims Converge On Mogadishu; Region's Camps Report Deaths

Geneva ? Uprooted by famine and conflict, more than 20,000 desperate people have sought refuge in the Somali capital Mogadishu so far this month. Thousands more continue to flee into the region, some on the brink of death.

"Every day, an average of 1,000 people arrive in Mogadishu seeking help," said UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming in Geneva on Friday. "Most come from famine-struck areas such as Lower Shabelle and Bakool."

Through its partners, the UN refugee agency on Wednesday distributed emergency assistance packages benefiting 15,000 internally displaced Somalis in the Dharkenley district of south-west Mogadishu. An additional 7,500 packages will be distributed in the coming weeks, with each package containing a UNHCR tarpaulin for shelter, three blankets, a sleeping mat, two jerry cans and a full kitchen set and utensils.

"We are trying to provide aid where people are, to prevent them from taking the difficult journey to Kenya and Ethiopia," said Fleming.

Driven to desperation, many Somalis are still making that journey. Kenya's Dadaab camps are still receiving about 1,500 new Somali refugees every day while several hundred are arriving in Ethiopia's Dollo Ado area daily.

More than half of them come from the Gedo, Bay and Bakool areas of south-central Somalia. They say they were either pastoralists or farmers fleeing due to the persistent drought, as well as violence that forced them to abandon their farmlands and livestock.

Many refugees are arriving in bad shape due to months of deprivation and the long trek to reach aid. "This is a dire nutritional emergency," said Fleming, noting that 15 deaths from malnutrition and other diseases were reported on Tuesday in Dollo Ado's Kobe camp. UNHCR staff in Dadaab are also reporting a rise in the number of deaths due to acute malnutrition, particularly among children.

Children younger than five years are the most vulnerable, but UNHCR is also concerned about malnutrition among refugees aged five to 18 years. "If treated early and correctly, most malnourished children can recover physically," said Dr Paul Spiegel, chief of UNHCR's Public Health and HIV section. "But the new arrivals with severe acute malnutrition seem to take longer than normal to recover, sometimes up to 6 to 8 weeks - possibly because of the horrendous state they are coming in."

http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/en_us/noticias/africa/2011/6/29/Famine-Victims-Converge-Mogadishu-Region-Camps-Report-Deaths,bc705062-0645-4cf8-a6d1-5a84766f786d.html

[Pathfinder]

Re: SOMALIA: Time for immediate action on famine - UN

Somalia: UN official warns famine could spread without adequate relief funding

1 August 2011 ?

The United Nations humanitarian chief warned today that the famine in Somalia could spread if the international community does not provide the funds required to respond to the hunger crisis, which, she said, had claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people.

UN humanitarian agencies last month declared outright famine in two areas of southern Somalia.

?Unless we see a massive increase in response, the famine will spread to five or six more regions,? Valerie Amos, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, told reporters at UN Headquarters. ?Tens of thousand of Somalis have already died and hundreds of thousands face starvation,? she said.

She said the drought in the Horn of Africa, which has also ravaged large areas of Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti, leaving an estimated 12.4 million people in need of humanitarian aid, is the worst in 60 years.

Ms. Amos, who is also the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, said that early warning systems had predicted the drought last year following which humanitarian agencies appealed for $1.6 billion dollars.

?As of mid-year, around half of that money had been raised, and as of last week donors had committed more than $1 billion,? said Ms. Amos.

?It is not enough,? she added. ?But neither was the crisis ignored as some have suggested. And even as we ask ourselves some important questions we can?t allow those to distract from the task at hand. We need to deal with the here and now as well as with the longer term.?

She said $1.4 billion is needed immediately to enable relief organisations to scale up response to the hunger crisis in the region. Ms. Amos urged traditional donors, who, she said, have already contributed generously, to provide additional resources, while appealing to corporations, foundations and private individuals to assist as well.

Ms. Amos said longer-term measures to make drought-prone areas of the Horn of Africa more resilient are already being implemented, citing Ethiopia?s social welfare scheme known as the Productive Safety Nets Programme, and Kenya?s employment plan that promotes natural resource management in arid and semi-arid areas.

She urged parties to Somalia?s conflict to uphold international humanitarian law to enable aid workers to deliver assistance to those in need.

She said that the UN will support a plan by the African Union to hold a funding conference for the Horn of African hunger crisis later this month.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.as...+of+Africa&Cr1=

[Pathfinder]

Re: SOMALIA: Time for immediate action on famine - UN

Sudan announces ?substantial? aid package to Somalia



August 1, 2011 (KHARTOUM) ? The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir told his Somali counterpart Sharif Sheikh Ahmed that his government will provide substantial aid to the drought-stricken country where many parts have been declared as famine areas by the United Nations.

Ahmed, who arrived in Khartoum on Monday, told Sudan news agency (SUNA) that his talks with Bashir on the situation in Somalia focused on the drought and the kind of support Khartoum can provide.
He said that Bashir expressed readiness to aid Somalia and told him that one is currently in the works.
...
Sudan ranked 21 on the list released by United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) of the top 30 nations giving money for victims of the drought and famine in the Horn of Africa.

With $1,788,000 in donations, Sudan was ahead of more richer countries such as Saudi Arabia, Russia and Luxembourg.

More..

http://www.sudantribune.com/Sudan-announces-substantial-aid,39713

[Pathfinder]

Re: SOMALIA: Time for immediate action on famine - UN

Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
A malnourished child at Banadir Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia. More than 500,000 Somali children are verging on starvation.

More photos:

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/08/01/world/africa/20110802-SOMALIA.html

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NYT photographer details Somalia's famine

August 2, 2011 3:34 PM
In this extended interview, Scott Pelley speaks with New York Times photojournalist Tyler Hicks about his remarkable pictures, which are calling attention to the starving children in Somalia.

VIDEO:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7375433n#ixzz1TyFMll2G

--------------------------------------------------------------

Somalis Waste Away as Insurgents Block Escape From Famine</NYT_HEADLINE>
<NYT_BYLINE>By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

</NYT_BYLINE>Published: August 1, 2011

MOGADISHU, Somalia ? The Shabab Islamist insurgent group, which controls much of southern Somalia, is blocking starving people from fleeing the country and setting up a cantonment camp where it is imprisoning displaced people who were trying to escape Shabab territory.

The group is widely blamed for causing a famine in Somalia by forcing out many Western aid organizations, depriving drought victims of desperately needed food. The situation is growing bleaker by the day, with tens of thousands of Somalis already dead and more than 500,000 children on the brink of starvation.

Every morning, emaciated parents with emaciated children stagger into Banadir Hospital, a shell of a building with floors that stink of diesel fuel because that is all the nurses have to fight off the flies. Babies are dying because of the lack of equipment and medicine. Some get hooked up to adult-size intravenous drips ? pediatric versions are hard to find ? and their compromised bodies cannot handle the volume of fluid.

More...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/world/africa/02somalia.html?_r=2

[Pathfinder]

Re: SOMALIA: Time for immediate action on famine - UN

UN declares famine in another three areas of Somalia

3 August 2011 ?

The United Nations today declared a famine in three more areas in drought-ravaged Somalia, bringing to five the number of regions in the Horn of Africa country where acute malnutrition and starvation have already claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden, said the Afgoye corridor outside Mogadishu, the capital itself, and the Middle Shabelle region are now in a state of famine. On 20 July the UN declared outright famine in Lower Shabelle and in southern Bakool region.

A famine can be declared only when certain measures of mortality, malnutrition and hunger are met. They are: at least 20 per cent of households in an area face extreme food shortages with a limited ability to cope; acute malnutrition rates exceed 30 per cent; and the death rate exceeds two persons per day per 10,000 persons.

The spread of the famine conditions highlights the seriousness of the food crisis facing internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Mogadishu. The declaration of famine in the capital follows the massive influx of starving adults and children into the city in the past two months.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), meanwhile, said that the appeal for funds to respond the hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa region, including Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Djibouti, is still only 44 per cent funded, with an additional $1.4 billion still required to cover unmet needs. An estimated 12.4 million people in the entire region are in need of assistance, according to OCHA.

In the Dadaab complex of refugee camps in Kenya ? whose population has swelled to nearly 380,000 in recent months, including 40,000 arrivals from Somalia last month alone ? the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that mass screening for malnutrition conducted in two of the camps in July revealed alarmingly high rates of acute malnutrition.

The agency has transferred more than 10,500 recent Somali arrivals to Dadaab?s Ifo camp extension in an ongoing relocation operation. UNHCR has airlifted thousands of tents to Kenya to accommodate the refugee population, but an additional 45,000 tents are still needed as the influx continues. The agency also voiced concern that Dadaab?s water resources could soon be overstretched.

In a related development, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, appealed to all Somalis, both inside and outside the country, to work together to support the ongoing peace process and alleviate the plight of those suffering from famine.

?This is a time of great crisis, but also of rare opportunity. It is a time for everyone to pull together to help those suffering and to work towards a better future for all,? said Mr. Mahiga in a letter to the Somali diaspora.

?I appeal to all those who are able ? Somalis and the international community alike ? to give as much as they can during this Holy Month to feed the hungry, heal the sick and prevent the famine spreading further,? he stated, referring to the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan that began on Monday.

Mr. Mahiga noted that despite recent progress on the political front, one of the contributing factors to the famine has been the ongoing fighting in the country. Some of the extremists are continuing their efforts to intimidate the population by preventing the movement of people from the worst-hit areas, he said.

?We call for the humanitarian agencies to be given unhindered access to all areas to provide desperately needed help,? he wrote, adding that the insecurity in many areas means that aid workers take huge risks to make their life-saving deliveries.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.as...Cr=Somalia&Cr1=

[Pathfinder]

SOMALIA - UN:Time for immediate action on famine - More than 29,000 children under the age of 5 have died in the last 90 days in southern Somalia

US: 29,000 Somali children under 5 dead in famine

Hundreds of thousands are acutely malnourished, which suggests the death toll will rise

By JASON STRAZIUSO

updated <ABBR style="DISPLAY: inline" class="dtstamp updated" title=2011-08-05T11:56:55>8/5/2011 7:56:55 AM ET</ABBR> 2011-08-05T11:56:55

NAIROBI, Kenya ? The drought and famine in Somalia have killed more than 29,000 children under the age of 5, according to U.S. estimates, the first time such a precise death toll has been released related to the Horn of Africa crisis.

The United Nations has said previously that tens of thousands of people have died in the drought, the worst in Somalia in 60 years. The U.N. says 640,000 Somali children are acutely malnourished, a statistic that suggests the death toll of small children will rise.

Nancy Lindborg, an official with the U.S. government aid arm, told a congressional committee in Washington on Wednesday that the U.S. estimates that more than 29,000 children under the age of 5 have died in the last 90 days in southern Somalia. That number is based on nutrition and mortality surveys verified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More...

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/44021514/ns/world_news-africa/

[Pathfinder]

Re: SOMALIA - UN:Time for immediate action on famine - More than 29,000 children under the age of 5 have died in the last 90 days in southern Somalia

Somalia famine: Islamist fighters pull out of Mogadishu to allow food to be distributed

Fighters from Somalia's ********-linked insurgency have abandoned the capital, Mogadishu, leaving the city in government hands for the first time in years.

By Mike Pflanz, Nairobi
7:59PM BST 06 Aug 2011

Support and funding for al-Shabaab had dried up as famine swept across the country, forcing a split in the militants' leadership that weakened the group so much it had no choice but to flee, sources in Mogadishu said.

Yesterday's withdrawal raised hopes that desperately needed food aid could now more easily be distributed across the city, parts of which have been officially declared as being in famine.

More...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/somalia/8686486/Somalia-famine-Islamist-fighters-pull-out-of-Mogadishu-to-allow-food-to-be-distributed.html

[Shiloh]

Re: SOMALIA - UN:Time for immediate action on famine - More than 29,000 children under the age of 5 have died in the last 90 days in southern Somalia

Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...8f66b24952d2ec

Famine: 'Hundreds of thousands of kids could die'

By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press ? 4 hours ago

DADAAB, Kenya (AP) ? Hundreds of thousands of Somali children could die in East Africa's famine unless more help arrives, a top U.S. official warned Monday in the starkest death toll prediction yet. To highlight the crisis, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden visited a refugee camp filed with hungry Somalis.

Jill Biden is the highest-profile U.S. visitor to East Africa since the number of refugees coming across the Somali border dramatically increased in July. Biden, who traveled to the camp in a C-130 military transport plane, said she wants to raise awareness and persuade donors to give more.

"One of the reasons to be here is just to ask Americans and people worldwide, the global community, the human family, if they could just reach a little deeper into their pockets and give money to help these poor people, these poor mothers and children," said Biden, who met with two Somali mothers and their eight children...

[Pathfinder]

Re: SOMALIA - UN:Time for immediate action on famine - More than 29,000 children under the age of 5 have died in the last 90 days in southern Somalia

UN warns of rising death rates among Somali children as disease takes a toll

16 August 2011 ?

Death rates among Somali refugees who have entered Ethiopia to seek succour from famine has reached alarming levels, the United Nations refugee agency reported today, saying that while malnutrition was the greatest concern, a suspected outbreak of measles was responsible for many deaths.

An assessment of the mortality rate in one of four refugee camps at the Dollo Ado complex in southern Ethiopia found that since the Kobe camp opened in June, an average of 10 children under the age of five have died every day, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. The Kobe camp hosts 250,000 refugees.

?The combination of disease and malnutrition was what caused similar death rates in previous famine crises in the region,? said Adrian Edwards, UNHCR spokesperson, told reporters in Geneva, adding that a measles vaccination campaign targeting children between the ages of six month and 15 years in Kobe camp was completed yesterday. Vaccinations will continue in the other camps, he added.

The majority of refugees arriving in Ethiopia from Somalia are from rural areas and the camps may be the first time they have had access to health facilities, according to Mr. Edwards, who added that the priority for all humanitarian partners is to promote awareness of the health and nutrition programmes available for refugees.

UNHCR is already working with refugee leaders and outreach workers to raise awareness of measles symptoms and promote hygiene.

Elsewhere in Ethiopia, some 17,500 refugees from Somalia have crossed into the Gode and Afder areas over the past six weeks, according to a joint field mission led by UNHCR and the Government.

Most of the newly arrived refugees have come from the Bakool and Bay regions, while others hail from the Gedo and Hiran regions. The new refugees, 95 per cent of whom are women and children, many in very poor nutritional and health states, will immediately receive a one-month food ration.

The joint mission voiced concern that a lack of shelter and health care, poor sanitation and overcrowding could lead to disease outbreaks and recommended that essential drugs be rushed to two areas.

Meanwhile, the last of three UNHCR flights to transport humanitarian aid into Somalia landed in Mogadishu on Saturday, completing the delivery of 100 tons of emergency relief supplies. Saturday?s flight carried 45,000 boxes of high-energy biscuits, plastic sheeting for shelter, sleeping mats and blankets, jerry cans and kitchen sets.

On the same day the agency distributed some 500 emergency assistance packages to residents of Al Adala camp ? near the Mogadishu airport ? which is sheltering some 2,000 displaced Somali families or approximately 13,000 individuals. Before the current crisis, the Somali capital hosted some 370,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), who have now been joined by an additional 100,000 who flocked into the capital in June and July from the famine-hit southern areas in search of food, water, shelter and medical assistance.

Many said they were forced to leave the elderly or disabled relatives behind fearing that they would not survive the arduous journey to Mogadishu, which entailed walking for days without food or water. Some said they had been confronted by Al Shabaab militants at roadblocks and discouraged from travelling to Mogadishu.

The UNHCR team described the conditions in Al Adala site as ?grim and dire.? Voices of crying children, punctuated by heavy coughing, could be heard from all corners. Some children lay helpless on the ground, apparently suffering from measles.

?We plan further distributions of emergency aid in Al Adala and other IDP sites throughout Mogadishu,? said Mr. Edwards. ?The entire cargo of the three airlifts will be handed out to the displaced people in need in the Somali capital before the end of the month,? he added.

In Kenya, UNHCR teams have continued to improve services at the Ifo Extension ? which comprises what was previously known as Ifo 2 and Ifo 3 sites ? as well as Kambioos camp in the Dadaab refugee complex, according to Mr. Edwards.

The movement of refugees into Kambioos site, initially scheduled for last weekend, has been delayed and is now expected later this week. Since 28 July more than 15,000 Somali refugees have been moved to the new tents in Ifo Extension shelters. In total, the Dadaab camps are now sheltering more than 440,000 Somali refugees.

In a related development, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) today strongly condemned any action that would divert even the smallest amount of food from those at risk of starvation and other vulnerable groups in Somalia.

?WFP would rigorously investigate any allegation of theft of humanitarian food,? Christiane Berthiaume, the WFP spokesperson told reporters in Geneva.

She said the agency had strong controls to ensure effective food aid distribution in Somalia and disputed the scale of food pilfering appearing in some media reports.

?WFP was confident that the vast majority of humanitarian food was reaching starving people in Mogadishu and saving lives every day,? said Ms. Berthiaume. ?The ?thousands of bags? which would have been looted or stolen, according to an Associated Press story, would equal less than one per cent of one month?s food distribution in Somalia,? she added.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.as...&Cr=Somali&Cr1=

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: SOMALIA - UN:Time for immediate action on famine - More than 29,000 children under the age of 5 have died in the last 90 days in southern Somalia

'90 Somalis die of hunger, cholera'
Fri Aug 26, 2011 4:32AM GMT

An internally displaced woman attends to her children suffering from cholera inside a ward at Benadir hospital in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, August 18, 2011. Somali officials say at least 90 more people have lost their lives due to hunger and cholera, criticizing the UN health and children's agencies for the increasing death toll.


Mogadishu Mayor Mohammed Ahmed Noor, said on Thursday that at least 70 children have died of cholera and 20 women and children lost their lives as a result of hunger in Laasareti Hospital in the north of the Somali capital, a Press TV correspondent reported on Thursday.

...

http://www.presstv.com/detail/195804.html