Press Conference on Humanitarian Operations in Somalia

 

Unless it received new funding from donors immediately, United Nations humanitarian operations in Somalia would begin 2010 with “zero” in the bank, a “life-threatening” situation that could trigger a spillover of people into neighbouring states like Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya, said Mark Bowden, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia.

Addressing journalists at an afternoon press conference on the humanitarian situation in that country, he said Somalia was the setting for a long-running humanitarian crisis, brought on by drought and made worse by a collapse of government.  Last year, well over 3 million people were affected, and over half suffered from acute food insecurity and needed regular humanitarian assistance to survive.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative for Somalia, Rozanne Chorlton, who spoke alongside Mr. Bowden, said at least $12 million was needed in the first quarter of 2010 to fund critical services for children, with much more required to fund activities for the rest of year.

“A severely malnourished child is nine times more likely to die than a child who doesn’t have malnutrition,” she said.  “It’s not as if we’ve got three months to wait or six months to wait.  A very sick child with severe malnutrition can die in a matter of days.”

Mr. Bowden said Somalia had the largest number of displaced persons in the world, living in unsanitary camps with poor water and sanitation services.  Each person had at most 8 litres of water to use, well below the amount set by humanitarian standards.

In a typical year, there was enough money left over from the previous twelve months to fund activities in the first quarter, journalists were told.  But, unlike this year -- where one quarter of available funds was carried over from 2008 -- next year’s coffers were down to nothing, since only a portion of the $900 million requested this year was actually received.

Mr. Bowden blamed the global economic downturn for the dearth of funds.  For countries that were able to maintain their level of funding, currency fluctuations had reduced the value of their donations, he said, explaining that aid was calculated in dollars.

The economic slowdown had also caused a drop in remittances from the Somali diaspora, he added.

Responding to a journalist, Mr. Bowden acknowledged that some donor countries, including large donors like the United States, were holding back their assistance in fear that aid would end up in the hands of extremists.  Some countries were also concerned that their aid would not reach the intended recipients because of limitations on movement.

However, he assured correspondents that, while access to certain parts of the country had become more difficult over the years, many areas were still accessible.  Humanitarian agencies were able to reach about 800,000 displaced persons this year, and the United Nations was working actively to tackle constraints in contested areas in the centre and south of Somalia, which were the least accessible.

Ms. Chorlton added that Somalia was on track to meet its Millennium Development target for polio, and could become measles-free and tetanus-free if humanitarian agencies were able to maintain their level of activity.  By the end of 2009, 1.5 million children, and 1 million women of child-bearing age, would have been immunized against tetanus, and more than 1 million people were given access to safe water, including those living in conflict areas.

Adding to the list of humanitarian achievements, she said there was a 100 per cent increase in primary school enrolment in the Afghan corridor and in Mogadishu.  Ten days ago, 14 communities in Somaliland announced that they would abandon the tradition of female genital mutilation, which was significant in a country where girls were nearly universally subjected to that practice.

“Really big things can happen in Somalia in terms of humanitarian service delivery and in terms of saving lives.  But, the other side of that coin is that that depends on resource flows,” she said.

Commenting on threats by the Islamist group Al-Shabaab against the World Food Programme, which recently demanded that the agency distribute only food that was bought locally, Mr. Bowden cautioned against giving such statements too much weight.  He said humanitarian agencies tended to gauge their security based on assurances from members of the local community, rather than on “overall statements” that could at times be “misleading”.

Graham Farmer, Officer-in-Charge of the Somalia programme for the Food and Agriculture Organization, who also appeared alongside Mr. Bowden, explained that humanitarian operations were often careful not to deliver food at the time of the harvest, which could inadvertently lower food prices.  To support community markets, the World Food Programme also bought their stocks locally, where possible.  However, Somalia was not one of those places.

In response to a question on the impact of piracy on humanitarian aid, Mr. Farmer said United Nations agencies were working with non-governmental organizations and the donor community to tackle its root causes, such as making livelihoods more secure for Somalians.  They were also studying how to overcome loopholes in the naval regulations of some countries, which, in some cases, did not allow their navies to take action unless pirates were targeting ships flying their own flags.

Once convicted, there was limited capacity for holding them in custody, he said.  Kenya, where most of the guilty were being held, was already strained.  The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the United Nations Development Programme were working together to help bring Somali prisons up to par.

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For information media • not an official record