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New York,
August 29, 2009 – Half of Somalia's population is in need of
humanitarian assistance, according to a new United Nations report which
finds that the conflict engulfing the Horn of Africa nation is pushing
increasing numbers of people into hunger.
The Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit of the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO/FSNAU) says that the crisis in Somalia is
both widespread and severe, with some 3.76 people in need of
humanitarian aid, up from 3.17 million in January.
“This signals a serious deterioration in the emergency food security and
nutrition situation from earlier this year,” according to Cindy Holleman,
Chief Technical Advisor of the Unit.
She adds that perhaps more worrying is that the increased fighting is
occurring in the same areas that are now recording the greatest problems
of food access and malnutrition and which are largely inaccessible to
aid workers.
Emergency nutrition levels in several parts of the country have
deteriorated further since January, with one in five children, up from
one in six earlier this year, now acutely malnourished and one in 20
severely malnourished, among the highest rates in the world.
In the whole of Somalia, nearly 300,000 children under the age of five
are acutely malnourished, of whom 70,000 are severely malnourished and
are at an increased risk of death without appropriate specialist care.
The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) has skyrocketed since
the start of the year, surging 40 per cent to 1.42 million people, and
the conflict's epicentre in central and southern Somalia has also faced
droughts due to several consecutive seasons without adequate rainfall.
With livestock having been decimated, the new report notes that in these
areas, up to 75 per cent of the population can be characterized as
living in a humanitarian emergency.
In a related development, the top UN envoy to Somalia called, on the
occasion of the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, for an end
to armed violence in the country.
In a letter to the Somalia diaspora, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the
Secretary-General's Special Representative, said that fighting continues
to rage even though there are no more Ethiopian troops in the capital,
Mogadishu.
“What reason is there now to continue fighting unless it is to
capitalize on the insecurity for personal gain?” he asked. “What moral
justification is there for instilling fear and terror in the
population?”
Source: UN, August 25, 2009
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