Red Cross calls for more aid as supplies reach Somali famine victims

Emergency relief is getting to only a small percentage of those in need, says the Red Cross: 3.7 million Somalis still need food Significant amounts of food aid is being distributed in Somalia’s famine zone for the first time since the crisis became acute, according to aid agencies, though more will be required in the coming months. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said 3,000 tonnes of food has been given to 162,000 people in southern and central Somalia, the drought- and violence-racked areas controlled by Islamist militia groups. Around 24,000 people in Lower Shabelle and Bakool, the two regions worst affected by the famine conditions, have been given a month’s supply of rice and beans. However, the UN has warned that the rest of southern Somalia is likely to be officially declared a famine zone within the next two months. The response to the disaster has been difficult and slow owing to security concerns and restrictions placed on aid agencies by the militia group al-Shabab, who banned some organisations from working in their areas, including the UN World Food Programme which would normally lead the relief effort. The group has accused the UN of distorting local markets and being anti-Muslim. A few humanitarian organisations, including the ICRC, have been allowed access to the controlled areas, though their relief work has been hampered. The Somali Red Crescent is also helping severely malnourished children in remote rural areas. Last week an Al-Shabab spokesman claimed there was no famine in Somalia , but the scale of the current food distribution suggests an increasing recognition of the seriousness of the situation. Nevertheless, emergency relief is getting to only a “small percentage of those in need”, the ICRC said. “More aid will be required to help the population bridge the gap until the next harvest in December,” said Andrea Heath, the group’s economic security co-ordinator for Somalia. According to the UN 3.7 million Somalis, about half the population, need food aid. Most are in the al-Shabab-dominated south, including 1.5 million who face famine. A further 8.2 million people require food aid in Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti, which have also been hit by the severe drought in the Horn of Africa, compounded by soaring crop prices. The situation in Somalia is more acute because of the fighting between al-Shabab and other militias, the absence of effective government and lack of humanitarian access. The UN estimates that tens of thousands of Somalis may have died due to lack of food. Hundreds of thousands more have trekked vast distances to refugee camps in Kenya, Ethiopia and the Somali capital, Mogadishu. The Somali government controls a little more than half of Mogadishu due to the presence of some 9,000 African Union (AU) peacekeepers. AU troops last week embarked on an offensive against the rebels, capturing territory during fierce battles. The insurgents retaliated yesterday when two peacekeepers were killed by suicide bombs. Famine Somalia Kenya Africa Xan Rice guardian.co.uk

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