2.3 Dynamics of the Humanitarian situation in Somalia
The current humanitarian situation in Somalia is catastrophic, but there is little evidence to suggest that the international community is paying much attention. An unprecedented food emergency and the constant fighting between myriad warring factions have elevated a crisis that has been a constant presence in the Horn of Africa for decades, threatening the stability of the whole region. Unlike Darfur, where billions of dollars of aid are being invested and thousands of aid workers operate, Somalia remains a place to avoid. The United Nations estimates that the country received about USD 200 million in aid in 2007, and the number of aid workers in the country continues to decrease.
“The International Community says they are concerned with the Somali conflict but we don’t see them doing anything competent to resolve it.”
Identity withheld
Mogadishu, March 2008
|
Starvation: failing harvests, droughts and insecurity driving up food prices
A lethal combination of factors, including record food prices, droughts, consecutive poor harvests, hyper-inflation, plagues and pervasive insecurity mean that Somalis are currently facing the lowest level of food security in years. Record levels of famine are expected, as the malnutrition rates throughout the country raise above the emergency threshold.
The harvest in Somalia’s traditional crop regions appears to have failed. In early March 2008 the Food Security Analysis Unit for Somalia reported that over two million Somalis are now in need of humanitarian assistance, but the World Food Programme will only be able to provide food aid to a quarter of those in need this year.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, people in central Somalia are facing life threatening shortages of food and water, with some families relying on a single meal each day.
Further complicating matters, sharp rises in the cost of fuel have increased the costs of transporting water supplies and food, further impacting on prices. Rising fuel costs have also altered the trading dynamics of Mogadishu’s Bakara market.
|
Appalling living conditions in Mogadishu, March 2008 |
Delivery chokepoints: Available international aid not getting through
Piracy and theft is preventing vital food relief packages from reaching hundreds of thousands of Somalis. The constant attacks off the Somali coast mean that maritime freight companies are refusing to deliver essential aid packages to Somalia. For the food aid that does reach Somalia, there are no guarantees that it will reach those in need, because the informal taxes on food deliveries within the country are so high.
Militias control the aid delivery routes: there are now more than 330 informal roadblocks throughout the country. Roadblocks on the Mogadishu-Afgoye road, where an estimated 200,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) now live, are now charging aid delivery trucks USD 475 to pass.
“The United Nations is good and bad. They mean well but everyone knows the people are suffering, but what is the UN doing? Nothing but moving their hands about!”
Identity withheld
Mogadishu, March 2008
“The actors on the ground in Somalia and here in Kenya are not senior strategists, but the people who make the decisions in DC are taking the simplistic view. The decisions are made so far away, the structure and donor attention are dysfunctional.”
Identity withheld
Mogadishu, March 2008
|
Mass displacement: refugees and IDPs
In late March 2008 the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned that since the start of the year more than 70,000 people have fled Mogadishu and that at least 15,000 have sought refuge in neighbouring Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Sudan.
Humanitarian agencies report that a quarter of Somalia’s one million Internally Displaced People are now concentrated along the fifteen kilometre stretch of road between Mogadishu to Afgoye, in what constitutes, according to UN, "probably the single largest IDP gathering in the world today."
Limited international aid contributions to Somalia
Since 2000, Somalia has received an average of USD 200 million per year in aid from international donors, almost half in the form of food shipments. Health, agriculture, water and sanitation, shelter and economic recovery are the lowest in spending priority.