On 2 February, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General (USG) for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ms. Valerie Amos, travelled to Somalia on her first official visit. Ms. Amos met with the President of Puntland and several other government officials in Garowe and discussed humanitarian concerns and priorities including drought response, support to displaced populations and protection of civilians.
The USG also went to Galkacyo, the capital of the Mudug region, where she met the president of the local Galmudug Administration and the local drought committee. During the meeting, Ms. Amos stressed the need for continued coordination and cooperation on humanitarian matters between the local administration and the humanitarian community.
Ms. Amos also visited Halabokad IDP settlement, situated approximately 4.5 km north of Gaalkacyo town, to assess the condition of the displaced populations. The settlement hosts about 500 households. The Halabokad IDP camp is one of the few IDP settlements where displaced people own their land as a result of a local initiative to secure land tenure rights for IDPs and is a model for good and sustainable IDP policy. Such initiatives, however, are the exception; not the rule.
"The world must not forget Somalia. It is 20 years since Somalia last had a functioning government. Somalia is one of the hardest places, if not the hardest place in the world to work, and the challenging operating environment has raised many concerns about the diversion of aid, monitoring of programmes and accountability.” Ms. Amos said. The humanitarian community working in Somalia has taken significant steps to address these concerns because we know that the work we are doing is saving lives," added Ms Amos.
Mixed movements of people displaced due to the current drought continue. IDPs from Afgooye Corridor are also moving in search of assistance into areas under TFG control such as Wadajir, Dharkenley and Hodan districts in Mogadishu. Some of IDPs from the Afgooye Corridor have established settlements in the former American embassy in Mogadishu and areas around Digfeer and Banadir hospitals.
In the past two months, at least 20,000 were displaced due to the severe water shortages in the country.
In Gedo, field reports indicate that in addition to movements to Kenya the number of drought-affected people moving out of the region to Ethiopia is increasing. On 1 February, over 20 mini buses transporting drought-displaced people from Bay and Bakool were moved to the refugee camps in Ethiopia’s Boqol Maanyo camps via Doolow district. The exact number of displaced people from these regions is currently not available. At least 200 new arrivals have been registered in Doolow 2 February. The majority of the displaced are from Qansax Dheere and Diinsoor, Bay region.
According to the latest Food Security Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) assessment, 2.4 million Somalis are in need of emergency humanitarian assistance, a figure that has increased due to the deepening drought conditions. The country is currently facing a severe water shortage following the failure of the last Deyr (October to December) rainy season, heightening fears of a deepening humanitarian crisis. Malnutrition rates, already above emergency levels, have risen due to the lack of clean water and the loss of milk and income from livestock herds that have been forced to migrate seeking pasture and water. Children are the first and most seriously affected: one in four children in southern Somalia is acutely malnourished and this figure is on the increase.
Conflict/Displacement
Confrontation between the Transitional Federal Government Forces (TFG) and Al Shabaab continued during the reporting period in Mogadishu. At least 15 civilians were killed and others were wounded following an exchange of fire between TFG forces in an area close to Banaadir Hospital in Mogadishu. On 3 February protection partners led by UNHCR and Danish Refugee Council issued a joint press release condemning the killings of these innocent civilians.
The statement said that the incident targeting civilians was unfortunately indicative of the disregard for civilian lives shown by armed forces active in Mogadishu over recent years. They appealed to all armed forces present in the capital to do their utmost to minimize the loss of civilian lives, and demanded that all those found responsible for the loss of lives in the incident of 31 January be brought to justice.
From the 3-23 January some 323 weapon-related casualties, including nine children under five years and three related deaths were reported from two major hospitals in Mogadishu.
Local drought response efforts
On 29 January 2011, the local money remittance company, Amal Express, started water trucking in Buuhoodle, Togdheer region. Amal Express distributed 700 drums of water to drought-affected families, mainly pastoralists who were displaced to Buuhoodle. Dahabshiil Bank and Remittance Company has allocated more than $100,000 for drought response and carried out some drought response activities, mainly in the south and central Somalia.
The business community in Puntland announced 29 January 2011, through Puntland Chamber of Commerce, that it has donated 1,000 trucks to be used for water trucking to the drought-affected populations in the neediest locations in Puntland. The group will work in partnership with the Puntland drought taskforce set up by the Puntland Administration.
Other Response
Drought response activities are progressing. Nine strategic boreholes have been rehabilitated in various locations of Puntland and 20 others are currently being planned.
During the week under review, WFP delivered a total of 1,770 metric tons of mixed food commodities to 203,300 beneficiaries through general food distribution and wet feeding programmes. Out of the total beneficiaries reached, all were from drought affected areas including 123,300 from the central region and 80,000 from Mogadishu.
By end of January, WFP had finalised agreements with six local NGOs for the implementation of targeted Supplementary Feeding Programme (SFP) for the treatment of moderate malnutrition in Mudug and Galgadud regions. The programme will start in February in five districts (Galkayo, Hobyo, Adado, Guriel and Dhusamareb) in 37 locations. It will support an estimated 10,600 malnourished children and pregnant and lactating women accessing treatment on a monthly basis. The families of those receiving treatment will also benefit from a household ration addressing food insecurity in the household.
WFP is finalizing the agreements with three more NGOs to cover the remaining gaps in its operational areas in Central Somalia including Abudwak and North Galkayo. WFP aims to establish a permanent network of facilities being able to respond more effectively to emerging crises and seasonal variations in nutrition vulnerability. Beyond the life-saving treatment provided to malnourished children, the use of a nutrition targeting mechanism to reach the most vulnerable families with food assistance allows immediate adaptation of the programme size to the number of families in need of humanitarian assistance, minimizing the risk of over/under distributing.
Contact: Contact: For further information both in English and Somali, contact: Abdi Yussuf Noor on +254 734 210 103 –nooryussuf@un.org
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