Emergency summit
July 25, 2011
The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has held emergency talks in Rome to address the deteriorating humanitarian situation in drought-stricken Somalia. Airlifts of food aid into the Somali capital, Mogadishu, are set to begin on Tuesday.
UN officials estimate that tens of thousands have died in the famine, triggered by the worst drought in 60 years, and that around 12 million people could face starvation in the broader region of east Africa. The famine has also hit parts of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda.
"The combined forces of drought, inflation and conflict have created a catastrophic situation that urgently requires massive international support," said FAO Director-General Jacques-Diouf after the meeting.
'No excuse' not to give
Despite the clear, urgent need for swift international support, some charities were critical of the international response.
"World leaders have no excuses for not generously responding," said Barbara Stocking, the head of Oxfam. "There can be no problem more pressing, more acute, more urgent than millions of people staring at the specter of starvation in this part of Africa. This should not be happening. It is a colossal outrage that the warnings went unheeded, that the lessons of previous famines have been ignored."
"A further pledging conference will take place in two days in Nairobi, and I hope today's meeting has moved governments to make major commitments there," she added.
Delegates at the meeting agreed that the governments of the six countries affected - Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, Sudan and Uganda - would manage the response to the crisis under the guidance of Inter-Agency Standing Committee's (IASC) Horn of Africa Plan of Action. In addition to immediate rescue aid, FAO is placing an emphasis on helping farmers create sustainable systems.
Delivery difficult
Aid workers are struggling to deliver food supplies to the famine-hit southern region controlled by Islamic militants. The al-Shabab group, which controls the southern swath of Somalia hardest hit by the famine, had banned foreign aid groups from delivering supplies to the region. Although the militant group reportedly lifted the ban on Friday, an al-Shabab spokesman said it was still in effect.
"In Somalia, there are places where local communities are welcoming humanitarian aid," European Union aid commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said.
"Even in areas of the Shabab, at the end of the day it is the local people who can say enough is enough," she added.
The International Red Cross reported on Sunday that it had managed to distribute 400 tons of supplies to around 4,000 families, or 24,000 people. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for the international community to donate $1.6 billion (1.1 billion euros) to stem the famine.
"So far, international donors have given half that amount," Ban wrote in an editorial published in the Los Angeles Times.
"To turn the tide, to offer hope in the name of our common humanity, we must mobilize worldwide."
Author: Matt Zuvela, Spencer Kimball (AFP, dpa)
Editor: Andrew Bowen