Nancy Lindborg is USAID’s Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance.
Today the U.N. declared ongoing famine in the Bay Region, adding to the five areas in southern Somalia already facing famine conditions. The U.N. also increased the number of Somalis in crisis to 4 million and says that 750,000 are at risk of death in the coming months in the absence of an adequate humanitarian response.
The unfortunate reality is that Somalia is the most difficult operating environment for humanitarians in the world today. Access continues to be denied by Al-Shabaab and other armed groups, creating an indefensible situation where they would rather put hundreds of thousands of Somali lives in jeopardy than allow humanitarian aid in. The massive amount of humanitarian aid required to save tens of thousands of lives simply cannot reach those in Bay Region and other areas in southern Somalia.
You might be wondering why people don’t just leave southern Somalia. Many in southern Somalia are already too weak to flee to neighboring countries to receive life-saving assistance. For those who are able to leave, they face a grueling walk through the desert, often with no food or water to sustain them. If they survive the weeks long walk to Kenya or Ethiopia, they often tell haunting stories of losing several children on the way and are so malnourished themselves that they require treatment to survive.
So when the U.N. says “750,000 people at risk of death in the coming four months in the absence of adequate response,” what they really mean is that unless we – the international community – can get access to provide humanitarian assistance to southern Somalia, the already horrific situation will get worse. Without access, the number of people in crisis will increase, and famine will continue to spread in Somalia.
We continue to call on all parties involved to allow unfettered humanitarian access to Somalis in need. The international community will not stop trying to provide life-saving aid in southern Somalia, and we will not stop trying to gain access to those in need.
The United States is providing over $600 million in assistance to help those affected by drought in the Horn of Africa, including $102 million in assistance to help those in Somalia. U.S. assistance provides food, treatment for the severely malnourished, health care, clean water, proper sanitation, hygiene education and supplies. We continue to look for innovative ways to get assistance into southern Somalia.
More on the U.S. response to the crisis in the Horn of Africa.
I think that humanitarian organizations must employ people who can work in such areas and they can interact with people from those areas as a movement of young people AlShabab. I personally volunteer for this work, especially with my experience in working in the Libyan crisis, with international organizations such as UNICEF,
vcs sao dms muito legal oque vcs estao fazendo ajuda aa africa so vcs para fazerem isso quantos reporte de emisora grande ja foi e num ajudar so vcs mesmo gostei muito
yes I am with you .we must assiset somalieto provide food
educating people clean woter. and so on .I will help you and I m reqdy to help humanutarian sud -saharian somalia
people of somali have to be assisted life is valueble we should not loose our loved people because of hunger.
The civil problems of Somalia, the overwhelming and suffer of its people, the famine and disasters in the Region, the homelessness of its Diasporas and the hopelessness of its nation are endless,
To me Dear Nancy Lindborg I would rather say if possible, in such areas it is good to collaborate with the local Authorities such as community elders on clan based and local NGOs based on that region, to reach out those marginalized people, this might be helpful to my best of knowledge.