UNITED NATIONS RESIDENT COORDINATOR DEEPLY CONCERNED ABOUT DETERIORATION OF HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN SOOL PLATEAU, SOMALIA

UNITED NATIONS RESIDENT COORDINATOR DEEPLY CONCERNED ABOUT DETERIORATION

OF HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN SOOL PLATEAU, SOMALIA

NAIROBI, 30 October (OCHA) -– United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia Maxwell Gaylard is deeply concerned that the potential failure of the current short season Deyr rains in the Sool Plateau of Somalia could precipitate a humanitarian disaster affecting 15,500 pastoralist families.

“We are already facing an acute humanitarian crisis, in particular in the Sanaag and Sool regions of the Sool Plateau, due to four years of consecutive drought”, said Mr. Gaylard.  “With the current rains apparently failing again, we can expect that most remaining livestock will die, the local economy will collapse and this could trigger large-scale population movements to towns that would adversely affect the health and welfare of the communities, in particular children.”

The United Nations Food Security Assessment Unit for Somalia (FSAU), supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS-NET) have also expressed grave concerns about worsening malnutrition and deteriorating food security if immediate action is not taken.

The September-October Deyr season has passed with no rainfall, and precipitation forecasts indicate only a marginal likelihood of significant rainfall this season in much of the Sool Plateau, further impoverishing families already struggling to survive. 

A recent United Nations and non-governmental organization (NGO) assessment of the affected area -- which spans the Sool, Sanaag and Bari regions of the Sool Plateau -- found that livestock herds, especially camel, were already decimated by starvation and disease, which has further impoverished pastoralist families almost entirely dependent on the sale of animals and their milk for income.  Those livestock still alive are in too poor a condition to sell.  At the same time, food and water prices have increased to such an extent that most households cannot afford to purchase even the most basic necessities for survival.  As a result, many have begun cutting trees to sell as charcoal, causing environmental damage and reducing fodder for camels.  Many have also borrowed large amounts of money from traders to purchase food and water, increasing their long-term vulnerability.

In the unlikely event that some rains do come, the crisis will continue for at least another six months -- the time necessary to help restore livestock to a condition that can support the local population.

In response to the crisis, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have already launched emergency programmes –- as well as increased their monitoring and surveillance activities -- in the affected area.  They and other United Nations agencies and NGOs are currently expanding activities designed to meet both the immediate and long-term needs of the affected population.

“To avert a full-scale disaster”, said Mr. Gaylard, “we need donors to urgently and generously support emergency interventions designed to save the lives of the most vulnerable while, at the same time, rebuilding their capacity to be self-reliant”.

The agencies that participated in the assessment mission include the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), FSAU/FAO, UNICEF, WFP, FEWS-NET, the Horn of Africa Relief and Development Organization (Horn Relief) and Veterinaires Sans Frontieres Switzerland (VSF Suisse).

For more information, please contact:  Calum McLean, Chief, OCHA, tel: +254-(0)20-444-8434;  or Nicholas Haan, Chief Technical Advisor, FSAU/FAO, tel: +254-(0)20-374-5734 or 374-8297.

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