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As fighting and drought rage on in Somalia, UN humanitarian efforts face huge shortfall

5 June 2006 – Although the Somali capital of Mogadishu is torn by some of the worst fighting in a decade with 300 people dead, 1,500 injured and 17,000 displaced, and though conflict and drought are wracking the south of the country, the United Nations faces a huge shortfall in the $326 million dollars it is seeking to cover urgent humanitarian needs there.

“The recent indiscriminate shelling in Mogadishu and spreading fighting in the environs of the capital have resulted in enormous human suffering,” UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland said in his latest statement on the country, which has been torn by factional fighting since the collapse of President Muhammad Siad Barre’s regime 15 years ago.

“At a time when people most need medical care and surgical attention, the occupation of Keysaney hospital by armed fighters constitutes a gross violation of international humanitarian law,” he added.

Six months into 2006, the UN’s $326-million appeal for the East African country has garnered only $135 million. While needs for food are 60 per cent covered, all other needs identified in the appeal have less than 25 per cent of the funds required.

The situation of displaced people, mainly fleeing fighting in the south of the country, is an increasing humanitarian disaster, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

Due to the intensity of recent fighting, an increasing number of civilians have been unable to reach medical facilities. The recent upsurge in hostilities comes at a time when southern Somalia is experiencing a humanitarian emergency due to drought, the statement added.

“The Transitional Federal Government, and all warring factions, need to do more to ensure safe humanitarian access and protection of civilians at all times, including those in Mogadishu,” Mr. Egeland said.

The Transitional Government, originally formed in Kenya in an effort to bring peace and stability to the tortured country, does not sit in Mogadishu but in the town of Baidoa.

Currently Mogadishu is the only capital in the world where the UN does not have access for international humanitarian staff, due to insecurity and despite an estimated 250,000 internally displaced living in the city. The aid community is especially concerned over the delay in the polio and measles immunization campaigns.