Help for Somalia

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held an emergency meeting of foreign ministers in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss how to increase aid to countries worst affected by the drought and famine in the Horn of Africa.

"We are expecting OIC nations to announce donations to Somalia during the meeting," a Turkish foreign ministry official told the AFP news agency ahead of the meeting.

The conference to mobilize aid was requested by Turkey, which currently chairs the organization of 57 Muslim countries. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu are scheduled to visit Somalia on Thursday.

Test for humanity

"There is a fire in Somalia and what's urgent is to extinguish that fire," Erdogan said. "This is a test not only for Somalia but for humanity."

About 3.6 million people in Somalia are at risk of starvation. The United Nations, which declared a famine in parts of the country, called for donations of $2.6 billion (1.8 billion euros) to respond to the Horn of Africa crisis. Less than half of that has trickled in so far.

Wealthy Arab countries have been slow in helping Somalia, which is a member of the League of Arab Nations, according to Mohamed Omar Talha, former social minister and current member of Somalia's parliament.

"Arab states in general have not been playing a role to the extent we would have wished for," he said. "We think that our Arab brothers have neglected their duties in this respect."

Talha added that he thinks it's not just the Arab states that should be held up for reproach, but rich countries around the world. But because of their geographical proximity, shared faith and similarities in their social structure, the Arab states bear a particular burden of responsibility, he felt.

International responsibility

That claim, however, was rejected by Abdel Asis Ben Saker who heads the Gulf Research Center in Dubai. He said responsibility for alleviating the hunger crisis in Somalia should not be put on the Arab world.

"There are the international organizations that are responsible for overseeing aid and predicting what's going to happen," he said. "It's an international responsibility, and it's not just the oil states alone, but all countries in the world."

Donations have come from some Arab countries, including $60 million from Saudi Arabia, $10 million from Kuwait and $2 million each from Sudan and the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, the United States pledged $570 million, China said it will donate $55 million and Switzerland on Wednesday announced it would double its aid to 20 million francs (17 million euros, $25 million).

In a country that hasn't had a functioning central government since the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, there are also questions about how effectively the aid is spent - and even if it arrives.

Better aid coordination needed

While welcoming the pledges from Arab and other nations, Talha criticized a lack of international coordination. Although the countries have committed to donate, the money does not arrive, he said.

"The matter needs to get coordinated so that aid reaches Somalia," he said. "We are used to money being collected in the name of the Somali people, but we never see any of it."

The World Food Program (WFP) also came under attack after reports this week that its aid was being stolen. A spokeswoman for the organization said the organization was confident that the vast majority of food was reaching starving people.

Lauren Landis, the director of WFP Geneva, said the UN program had some strict control measures in place to ensure aid reached its proper destination.

"The WFP has worked hard over a number of years to make sure that we have a very strong system of controls in place, because of the very difficult operating environment there," she said.

Author: Falah Elias / sms

Editor: Cyrus Farivar