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]

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

Diane

Somalia: Famine caused hundreds of deaths a day
Updated 09/05/11 at 14:04
The famine has spread to six of the eight regions of southern Somalia, where 750,000 people are directly threatened, the UN announced on Monday by noting that hundreds of people every day succumbed despite an increase in humanitarian aid .

"The entire Bay area is now declared in a state of famine"
"The entire Bay area is now declared in a state of famine," said Mark Bowden, the UN coordinator for aid to Somalia. The Bay Area is the sixth of Somalia's collapse into famine since the United Nations announced in July that it struck the country in the Horn of Africa, where four million people - 53% of the population - are not able to meet their food needs.

Hundreds of people die every day, of which at least half of them children, said Grainne Moloney, Technical Advisor of the Unit of analysis of food security and nutrition of the UN for Somalia. She said to expect that other parts of southern Somalia are in turn in a state of famine at the end of the year.

...

-With Reuters

http://www.20minutes.fr/ledirect/781206/somalie-famine-fait-centaines-morts-jour

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: SOMALIA - UN:Time for immediate action on famine - Hundreds dying daily

Somalia: Four Toddlers Die of Malnutrition in Mogadishu IDPs Camps

7 September 2011


Mogadishu ? At least four toddlers from southern Somalia familiy on Wednesday died of malnutrition and other related complications in the refugee camps in Mogadishu.

Also diarrhea and measles are the main killers in Somalia's famine affected children, according to some of the internally displaced people.

The mother of four dead kids told Shabelle Media Network with gloomy and sadness on her face that all died within hours respectively.

...

http://allafrica.com/stories/201109070718.html

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: SOMALIA - UN:Time for immediate action on famine - Hundreds dying daily

Famine spreads into Bay Region - 750,000 people face imminent starvation
NAIROBI/WASHINGTON SEPTEMBER 5, 2011 ? August survey results indicate that the prevalence of acute malnutrition and the rate of crude mortality have surpassed Famine thresholds in Bay Region of southern Somalia. In addition, July/August Post-Gu seasonal assessment analysis suggests that poor households in this region face massive food deficits due to a combination of poor crop production and deteriorating purchasing power. As a result, the FAO managed Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit and FEWS NET have now classified this region as IPC Phase 5 ? Famine. Bay Region joins the Bakool agropastoral livelihood zone and the Lower Shabelle region, where Famine was declared on July 20th, and the agropastoral areas of Balcad and Cadale districts of Middle Shabelle, the Afgoye corridor IDP settlement, and the Mogadishu IDP community, where Famine was declared on August 3rd. An additional 50,000 people in cropping areas of Gedo and Juba and pastoral areas of Bakool face Famine-level food deficits. In total, 4.0 million people are in crisis in Somalia, with 750,000 people at risk of death in the coming four months in the absence of adequate response. Tens of thousands of people have already died, over half of whom are children. Assuming current levels of response continue, Famine is expected to spread further over the coming four months.

The current crisis in southern Somalia is driven by a combination of factors. The total failure of the October-December 2010 Deyr rains (secondary season) and the poor performance of the April-June 2011 Gu 2011 rains (primary season) have resulted in the worst annual crop production in 17 years, reduced labor demand, below-average livestock prices, and excess animal mortality. The decline in maize and sorghum availability has subsequently pushed local cereal prices to record levels and, in combination with reduced livestock prices and wages, substantially reduced household purchasing power in all livelihood zones. Large-scale displacement and significant limitations on humanitarian access have further exacerbated the negative food access and health outcomes.

Based on the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) scale, version 1.1, an area is classified as in Famine when at least 20 percent of the population faces extreme food deficits, global acute malnutrition (GAM) exceeds 30 percent, and the death rate exceeds 2/10,000/day for the entire population. In regard to the current situation:

Local cereal prices across the south are far above average, more than triple 2010 prices in some areas. These high prices have eroded the value of wages and livestock and, combined with reduced crop production, resulted in substantial food deficits among poor and lower middle households, especially in marginal cropping areas.
During July and August, FSNAU conducted 34 representative nutrition and mortality surveys across southern Somalia, including 30 among local populations and four among internally displaced populations. Results from 24 surveys are available. Based on the most recent data available for each region, the average GAM prevalence was 36.4 percent and the average severe acute malnutrition (SAM) prevalence was 15.8 percent. The highest recorded level of acute malnutrition is in Bay, where the GAM prevalence is 58.3 percent. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has verified these findings.
Population-wide death rates are above the alert level (1/10,000/day) across all areas of the south, above the Famine threshold (2/10,000/day) in the Bay, Bakool and Middle Shabelle (Balcad and Cadale) agropastoral livelihood zones, and more than double the Famine threshold in Lower Shabelle and among IDPs in the Afgoye corridor and Mogadishu. Tens of thousands of people have died in the past three months. Under-5 death rates are higher than 4/10,000/day in all areas of the south except Juba pastoral. Under-5 death rates meet or exceed 13/10,000/day (equivalent to 10 percent of children under five dying every 11 weeks) in riverine and agropastoral areas of Lower Shabelle and among Afgoye and Mogadishu IDPs.
Emergency levels of malnutrition and mortality persist in cross border refugee camps. Conditions are especially dire in the new camps in southern Ethiopia, where acute malnutrition exceeds 30 percent and mortality has likely surpassed 2/10,000/day, despite adequate stocks of food aid.

http://www.fsnau.org/

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: SOMALIA - UN:Time for immediate action on famine - Hundreds dying daily; 750,000 face imminent starvation

Somalia nightmare refuses to end
SIMPHIWE NKWALI and BRETT HORNER | 08 September, 2011 00:41

...

The current famine, declared in July by the UN, is claiming about 2000 lives a day, said Sooliman.

On top of that, the country is literally on the move, creating a washing machine of intra-migration as people trek to food, medical care and safety.

The symptoms of this unfolding tragedy are conflating in Mogadishu, to where families are flocking in their thousands, driven from the rural hinterland by starvation and drought.

The stories have already become familiar: of families losing the young and infirm along the way, burying them where they died.

Poor rainfall was the trigger for the current famine but in reality the tragedy was precipitated by years of strife.

Last month, Unicef and the World Health Organisation said 470000 displaced people were living in makeshift settlements in Mogadishu alone.

Coupled with acute malnutrition - one in four children is estimated to be severely malnourished - and the mortality rate shows no signs of dipping.

Again, Sooliman was blunt with his message in preparation for the mental and emotional demands.

"I know it is callous to say, but an earthquake is better. In 30 seconds, 300000 people might be dead and it's all over.

"But in Somalia, over 16 weeks, parents watch their children die in front of their eyes. It's a slow death."

When Sooliman speaks, it is with conviction and passion.

http://www.timeslive.co.za/africa/2011/09/08/somalia-nightmare-refuses-to-end

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: SOMALIA - UN:Time for immediate action on famine - Hundreds dying daily; 750,000 face imminent starvation

Conditions worsen for famine-wracked Somalis in Mogadishu, but improve in Ethiopia
A family of Somali refugees in a makeshift shelter in Kobe camp, Ethiopia

16 September 2011 ? Health and nutrition rates have deteriorated for famine-wracked Somalis displaced within their own country but improved for those who have fled to Ethiopia, the United Nations refugee agency reported today.
In Mogadishu, the capital, the incidence of diarrhoea and measles among internally displaced persons (IDPs) remains a concern and the estimated mortality rates among children under the age of five continue to be alarmingly high at 15.43 per 10,000 a day in August, compared to 14.09 in July, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Adrian Edwards told a news briefing in Geneva. Malnutrition rates have also worsened.

Tens of thousands of Somalis have already died and more than 3.2 million others are on the brink of starvation in a country that has been torn apart by factional and Islamic militant conflicts for the past two decades during which it has had no functioning central government.

Access to IDPs has improved somewhat since Al-Shabaab Islamic militants withdrew from Mogadishu last month under pressure from the 6,200-strong UN-backed African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), and UNHCR has made fact-finding missions to some of the more than 180 makeshift camps in the capital to distribute emergency aid items.

?We aim to undertake up to 10 fact-finding missions a week to IDP settlements,? Mr. Edwards said. ?We still have no access to many parts of the capital. Outside the protected compound of the Mogadishu International Airport, our staff are still forced to move with secured convoys.?

In the Tarbuush and Al Adala settlements, IDPs now have improved shelter conditions and can use new kitchen sets to prepare the food they have received. Blankets and sleeping mats were also immediately put to use.

Meanwhile, UNHCR and its partners have made progress in delivering health and nutrition services to tens of thousands of Somali refugees in the Dollo Ado camps in Ethiopia. The measles vaccination campaign completed two weeks ago has led to a sharp decrease in new cases and fatalities, and mobile health teams are reaching many families who previously had no access to medical services.

In Kobe camp, there has been a steady decline in mortality rates, which are now estimated to be 2.1 per 10,000 people per day, down from a rate of 4 to 5 a few weeks ago. When Ethiopia?s newest camp, Hilaweyn, opened six weeks ago, the overall malnutrition rate among newly arrived refugee children under 18 was 66 per cent. The rate has now dropped to 47 per cent.

Across all camps in Dollo Ado, the overall rate is around 35 per cent as the nutritional feeding programmes for children have reached the most vulnerable. ?We are continuing these feeding programmes as the rate of malnutrition is still high, particularly among children under the age of two,? Mr. Edwards said.

On average 300 Somalis continue to cross the border daily into Dollo Ado from the areas of Bay, Gedo and Bakool in Somalia.

?New arrivals tell us that conditions in Somalia are still precarious, with the majority of livestock having now perished and food hard to come by. Some of them are also directly fleeing continuing conflict and violence,? Mr. Edwards said.

Drawing on lessons learned from the 1992 famine when infant mortality spiked during the colder weather and rains in Somalia in October, UNHCR is working with the UN Children?s Fund (UNICEF) to distribute 60,000 UNHCR blankets in Mogadishu and neighbouring regions. The agency is also preparing transitional shelters and procuring extra-large plastic sheeting.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=39589&Cr=somalia&Cr1=

[Pathfinder]

Re: 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

<TABLE style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; DIRECTION: ltr" border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=NewsDetailsTitle>Translated by Google

Arab Health Ministers discuss the situation in Somalia


</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD class=bbb>الصحة 28/09/2011 05:28:00 م
Health 28/09/2011 05:28:00 PM
</TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD class=aaa><TABLE style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; DIRECTION: ltr" class=ImageFloat cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD id=tdCaption class=pictureCaption width=180 align=middle></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>القاهرة - 28 - 9 (كونا) -- أعلنت جامعة الدول العربية أنه تقرر عقد اجتماع طارئ للمكتب التنفيذي لمجلس وزراء الصحة العرب السبت المقبل بناء على دعوة من رئيس المكتب وزير الصحة السعودي عبدالله الربيعة.


Cairo - 28-9 (KUNA) - Arab League announced that it decided to convene an emergency meeting of the Executive Office of the Council of Arab Ministers of Health on Saturday at the invitation of the President of the Saudi Minister of Health Abdullah Al-Rabiah.

وذكرت الأمين العام المساعد للشؤون الاجتماعية بالجامعة العربية السفيرة سيما بحوث في تصريح للصحافيين اليوم أن الاجتماع سيناقش بندا واحدا هو تطورات الأوضاع الصحية في الأراضي الصومالية في ضوء كارثة الجفاف والمجاعة التي تعانيها الصومال والجهود العربية المتواصلة لتقديم المساعدات الانسانية والصحية والاغاثية للشعب الصومالي.

The Assistant Secretary-General for Social Affairs of the Arab League Ambassador especially research in a statement to reporters today that the meeting will discuss a single item is the development of the health situation in the Somali territories in the light of the disastrous drought and famine experienced by Somalia and the Arab efforts in continuing to provide humanitarian aid, health and relief to the Somali people.

وأضافت ان المكتب التنفيذي يضم السعودية رئيسا وعضوية قطر وليبيا والعراق وسوريا والسودان
ومصر وفلسطين ولبنان اضافة الى الأمانة العامة للجامعة العربية.

It added that the Executive Office includes Saudi Arabia, chairman, Qatar, Libya, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Egypt, Palestine and Lebanon in addition to the General Secretariat of the Arab League.

وكان الربيعة طرح عندما كان رئيسا للمكتب التنفيذي في دورته السابقة مبادرة ايجابية من خلال دعوته لاجتماع عاجل للمكتب التنفيذي لوزراء الصحة العرب في الرياض قبل عامين لوضع استراتيجية عربية لمواجهة الأوبئة في المنطقة وذلك عند انتشار وباء انفلونزا الخنازير.

Rabiah was thrown when he was head of the Office of the Executive Board at its previous positive initiative by calling for an urgent meeting of the Executive Bureau of Arab Health Ministers in Riyadh two years ago to develop an Arab strategy to face the epidemics in the region, when the spread of an epidemic of swine flu.

وهذا يؤشر الى امكانية توصل المكتب التنفيذي الى مبادرة أو خطة عربية للتعامل مع الأوضاع الصحية المتردية في الأراضى الصومالية.(النهاية) س م / م ف م / ط م ا كونا281728 جمت سبت 11

This indicates the possibility of reaching the Executive Office of the initiative or an Arab plan to deal with the deteriorating health situation in the Somali territory. (End) Q M / P M / A CT KUNA 281728 GMT Sat 11


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2193198&Language=ar

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: 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

Since January, an estimated 395,532 children have been admitted for treatment of acute
malnutrition through outpatient therapeutic programmes, stabilization centres and targeted supplementary
feeding programmes throughout the country, including 120,467 SAM cases and 275,065 MAM cases. These
figures cover the period up to September as data is currently being gathered for October. Some 450,000
children are malnourished, of whom 190,000 suffer from severe acute malnutrition.

...
http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb...20No.%2021.pdf Page 6

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: 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

Somalia ? Famine & Drought
Situation Report No. 23
22 November 2011

Situation Overview
On 18 November, the Somalia Food Security
and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) and Famine
Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET)
announced that three areas of Somalia (Bay,
Bakool and Lower Shabelle) have been
downgraded from famine to emergency due in
large part to substantial humanitarian assistance
which has mitigated the most extreme food
deficits and reduced mortality levels. The number
of people facing imminent starvation has been
reduced from 750,000 to 250,000. However,
these improvements will only be sustained if the
current level of assistance continues, and areas
may fall back into famine if humanitarian
activities are interrupted or reduced.
Famine persists in parts of Middle Shabelle
region and in the areas hosting internally
displaced persons (IDPs) in Mogadishu and
along the Afgooye corridor. Malnutrition and
mortality rates in many parts of southern Somalia
continue to be the highest in the world and the
worst in Somalia since the 1991/92 Famine.
Despite continued scaling up of humanitarian
operations, the situation is expected to worsen
due to continued limitations in access, and the
crisis is likely to continue well into 2012.
The humanitarian community is particularly
concerned about areas still in famine and areas
where military action is ongoing. Obstacles to
access have contributed to the persisting famine in the Afgooye corridor and in Middle Shabelle region, but it
is unclear why famine persists amongst IDP communities in Mogadishu, where access is relatively good.
Military activity in Lower Juba and Gedo is affecting humanitarian operations, worsening the crisis in the two
regions.

...

According to FSNAU, four million people remain food insecure throughout the country, including
three million people in southern Somalia.
...

http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/OCHA%20Somalia%20Situation%20Report%20No.%2023.pdf

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: 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



15 January 2012 Last updated at 12:03 ET

The UN in Somalia says tens of thousands of people will have died of starvation by the time the famine in the Horn of Africa ends.

The food crisis was declared in Somalia six months ago and levels of need are expected to remain high until July or August.

UN aid chief in Somalia, Mark Bowden, told the BBC malnutrition rates there were the highest in the world.

He said a quarter of a million Somalis were still suffering from the famine.

"We know that tens of thousands of people will have died over the last year," Mr Bowden, said, describing the rates of malnutrition as "amazingly high".

"Children will have suffered the most, malnutrition rates in Somalia were the highest in the world, and I think the highest recorded... up to 50% of the child population suffered from severe or acute malnutrition."
...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16568842