Somalia Donors Falling Short of UN Goal

The international community has so far committed less than half of food and aid and money required for famine stricken Somalia, where aid groups say tens of thousands of people, mainly children, have died in the past months, and hundreds of thousands more are at risk. 

 UN Humanitarian Aid Chief Catherine Bragg told the Security Council earlier today, that the world body’s humanitarian partners were more than 560 million dollars short on funding to provide emergency assistance to the more than 2.8 million people. 

 Bragg says aid agencies still need 1.3 billion dollar to provide emergency assistance for the whole of the Horn of Africa. Earlier this week President Obama announced the US would be contributing an additional 105 million dollars to the crisis.

“Donors have committed more than a billion dollars to the response so far and continue to pledge more.We are very grateful, especially in these difficult economic times. But the magnitude of human suffering in Somalia today demands more.” Bragg told Council members. “Despite the difficulty of operating in one of the most conflict riven countries in the world, we cannot let people down,our response must be scaled up and the resources to support  that effort must be provided.”

 Speaking to reporters via teleconference, UN envoy to Somalia Augustine Mahiga said there had been a significant improvement in the security situation since Al Shabaab had withdrawn from Mogadishu last week, leaving the capital in control of Transitional Government Forces for the first time in years, but that the Islamic militant militia was still  hindering aid delivery. 

At the outset of the crisis Shabaab, who in the past has blocked humanitarian agencies from operating within the regions under its control, said it would grant humanitarian agencies access. The group has however refused to grant the WFP ( World Food Program) access to the region because of its close ties and majority funding from the US. 

Mahiga says other group like the International Red Cross have been able to access these areas but do not have a sufficient food delivery capacity.

“It remains quite a challenge, when you have a group like Al Shabaab, that not only politicizes and attaches ideological attachments to humanitarian assistance but they still have security leverage to prevent humanitarian work.”

UN Declares State of Famine in Somalia, Says Tens of Thousands Dead from Starvation, Millions More At Risk

Tens of thousands of Somalis, mostly children, have died from acute malnutrition in the last three months and thousands will follow unless the international community takes urgent action say senior UN humanitarian officials.  

The world body today declared the food crisis had reached famine levels in Southern Somalia’s Lower Shabelle and Southern Bankool region, with acute malnutrition rates exceeding 30% in children and a daily crude death rate over two per 10 000 people. These levels have not been reached since the famine of the early 1990’s which claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

UN Humanitarian coordinator Mark Bowden says child malnutrition rates in certain regions of the country are as high as 50% and warned other regions could soon reach such levels. 

“We still do not have all the resources for food, clean water, shelter and health services to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of Somalis in desperate need,” Bowden told reporters in a video conference from Nairobi. “If we don’t act now, famine will spread to all eight regions of southern Somalia within two months, due to poor harvests and infectious disease outbreaks.”

UN agencies estimate that over 60 percent of those in the Southern Region of Somalia (2.8 million people) are in urgent need of lifesaving assistance. Bowden says a rapid large scale humanitarian response could still save lives but so far, the international community’s response and financial commitment has been insufficient. 

“We estimate that $300 million is needed to address the famine in the next two months. This is a rough estimate and the number will probably increase as the number of people in need rises,” said Bowden.

Both EU and African states have been criticized for failing to recognize the severity of the situation and providing a substantial amount of assistance. Bowden says a drop in US assistance over the last two years, from Somalia’s largest international donor to the 7th or 8th largest, made the situation in the country worse.

US officials have blamed the decrease on Al Shabaab, a radical islamic militant group listed as a terrorist organization by the US State Department, who in the past has been accused of from commandeering aid and preventing humanitarian organizations from accessing those in need.

Last week Al- Shabaab announced it would allow humanitarian deliveries to parts of the country it controls, but US Ambassador Susan Rice expressed some doubt over their intentions.

“They [Al-Shabaab] say they’ve lifted [the restrictions] after two years of starving their own people. We’ll see if those restrictions are lifted on the ground. Neither the United States nor others in the international community are prepared to pay bribes or taxes to Al-Shabaab while it starves its own people. The question is whether Al-Shabaab will finally, in the face of a massive famine, allow its people to access the critical humanitarian resources that they need.”

Famine Stalks Somalia: UN Urges World Action

Somalia is facing a level of famine not seen since the 1980’s, senior UN officials have warned, calling for massive humanitarian assistance for the southern part of the country. 

An acute drought and continued fighting have forced hundreds of thousands of civilians into already overcrowded refugee camps in neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia, where over 1400 new refugees are seeking shelter every day. 

“I believe Somalia represents the worst humanitarian disaster in the world” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Gutteres told journalists during a visit to a refugee camp in Kenya on Sunday. “And that is why we need to do everything everything we can to make it possible to deliver massive humanitarian assistance inside Somalia.”

 Threats from militias and a worsening security situation over the past months have left much of Southern Somalia out of the reach of aid agencies. Last week UN officials in Somalia welcomed the decision by al -Shabaab, a militant Islamic organization in control of large portions of the country, to allow humanitarian access to those in need.

But the rapidly growing number of displaced peoples has also put additional strain on neighboring states. Kenya and Ethiopia, who are struggling to manage the effects of the food crisis on their own populations, are continuing to see a large influx of displaced people.

The town of Dadaab in Northern Kenya is currently home to the largest refugee encampment in the world and operating well beyond its capacities. Over 350 000 people have sought shelter there, and 10,000 new Somali refugees are arriving every week. 

Over the weekend, Kenyan government officials turned down a UN Refugee agency request to open an other nearby camp to better manage the overflow of displaced people.

“You can imagine what it is like in a camp that was built for 90 000 people that now host over 360 000 people” UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos told reporters today. “The implications in terms of access to water sanitation, our ability to supply the most basic services to those people are extremely limited.”

Amos said she was “disappointed” the Kenyan governments decided to turn down the UN request and urged the international community to do more for the Horn of Africa. 

“We urgently need a united approach to the relief effort so we can avoid a descent into the famine like conditions last seen in the 1980’s.” she said “It’s clear that the effects of this drought are going to last for at least the rest of this year, and the situation in drought affected areas is expected to worsen. The need to do more now is urgent, but in addition, we also need to plan for the longer term, to help people rebuild their lives when the situation improves.”

UN: Somalia Group Shuns Aid For The Starving

The people in southern Somalia desperately need food aid but the Al-Shabaab militant Islamist organization will not allow aid agencies to ship food into the area, a senior UN Official said Wednesday. 

 Al Shabaab controls much of Somalia outside the capital Mogadishu and the population in the countryside is bearing the brunt of one of the worst food crises to hit the Horn of Africa in decades.

“The Shabaab don’t want to accept food aid into the area, and this is a time when we actually need food to go into the area to have an impact on prices.” United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia Mark Bowden told a press conference in New York today. “The Shabaab are accepting certain types of aid but they have a strong position against food aid…I would hope that [Al-Shabaab] would see the severity of the situation would require food assistance.”

UN agencies say the crisis is affecting more than 10 million people through out Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda, while other parts of the region experiencing “pre-famine conditions.”

Bowden says the root cause of the current situation is rising food prices, which have been exacerbated by the devastating effects of a drought on local farmers. 

“The drought of last year severely effected local food productions,” said Bowden. “That coupled with international food price rises has created a situation in Somalia where large proportions of the population both urban and rural are not in a position to meet their food needs and the levels of distress are increasing throughout the country.” 

Food costs in Somalia have shot up 270% in the past year alone, and although it remains available in markets, the dramatic increases have pushed prices well beyond the means of the most of the population.

 Bowden says the international community has to take immediate action before the situation deteriorates any further. 

“If we are not able to respond rapidly and effectively there will be many more lives lost as a result of malnutrition.”

Most recent reports indicate 30 % of Somali children suffer from global acute malnutrition, a number expected to grow significantly in the coming months.

White House Press Gaggle

By Press Secretary Jay Carney

Aboard Air Force One

En Route Cleveland, Ohio

MR. CARNEY:  Good morning, everybody. 

     Q    Good morning.

     MR. CARNEY:  You guys ready?  I just want — before I take your questions, I wanted to remind everybody why we’re here, for the Winning the Future Forum on Small Business.  As you know, in addition to the President of the United States, we have Cabinet members attending the event, and that includes the Treasury Secretary, Commerce Secretary, Labor Secretary, Energy Secretary, the SBA Administrator, the CEA Chair, and Gene Sperling, the National Economic Director.

     As you know, the President talked about the need for innovation and for businesses in particular and small businesses to be the engine of growth in our economy.  And he wants to hear from small business owners in this forum about what drives success and what barriers lie in the way of success.

     Cleveland is actually a city that’s done a great deal of positive work in positioning itself in both the field of biotechnology and clean energy.  It’s really poised to be a global leader in the 21st century in these new industries, and the President is obviously very excited about that.

     So from here on there will be other events similar to this that Cabinet secretaries will participate in.  This is not just a one-time deal.  It was a major theme of the President’s State of the Union address and will continue to be.

     So, with that, I will take your questions.

     Q    On Libya, can you tell us what is going on behind the scenes at the White House?  And also, is there concern that unlike in Egypt, there is nothing that you can really do, there’s no real ties with Libya and there’s very little the administration can do in that situation?

     MR. CARNEY:  Well, first let me point you to the fact that on Friday, while we were on this plane, the President issued a statement condemning the violence in Libya, the use of violence against peaceful protesters in Libya as well as two other countries.  Yesterday, the Secretary of State issued a very strongly worded statement condemning the violence and expressing our great alarm at the violence used against peaceful protesters.  We offer our condolences to the families of the victims in Libya of this appalling violence.  And the Secretary of State will speak again today at approximately 2:30 p.m. where she will address some of these issues.

     Q    Will the President speak about this today?

     MR. CARNEY:  I don’t anticipate that, but we’ll see.

     Q    Do you have a — can you give us anything on the death of the hostages at the hands of the pirates?

     MR. CARNEY:  Well, for details about what happened I’d refer you to the Pentagon.  What I can tell you is that the President was notified this morning at 4:42 a.m. by Homeland Security director — or advisor, rather, John Brennan about the outcome in which the four American citizens’ lives were lost, the tragic outcome of that event.

     The President did, over the weekend on Saturday, authorize the use of force in the case of imminent — of an imminent threat to those hostages, and that’s — for other details I can refer you to the Defense Department.

     Q    Are there, do you think, measures that — the Security Council is meeting today on Libya — are there international measures that the U.S. can take with its partners to try and affect what’s going on inside Libya, or is it a question of lacking substantial leverage?

     MR. CARNEY:  There is activity at the United Nations Security Council today.  We are participating in meetings.  We look forward to working with the international community so that the international community speaks with one voice in condemning the violence.  And we feel like when the international community speaks with one voice, it can be most effective, so we are obviously participating fully in that.

     Q    Is the White House having any conversations with other world leaders about — the President himself having any conversations with world leaders about Libya?

     MR. CARNEY:  I have no announcements on presidential conversations right now.

     Q    Oil is at a two-year high.  How closely is the President monitoring the situation in Libya?

     MR. CARNEY:  Well, as you know, when there is unrest in the world and specifically in that region, that can affect oil prices.  We are closely monitoring that situation, but I would not speculate on where oil prices would go in the future.

     Q    Do you think the events of the last few days have shown perhaps that the attempts to kind of rehabilitate Qaddafi — particularly the Europeans sort of took part in it the last administration as well — were a mistake?

     MR. CARNEY:  What I’ll say, Steve, is that the future of Libya needs to be decided by the Libyan people.  As is the case throughout the region, our policy is — pertains in Libya or towards Libya as it did — does to Egypt, to Bahrain and other countries, which is that we call very strongly for an end to the use of violence against peaceful protesters.  We call for respect for the universal rights that these — peoples of this region, as peoples all around the world, have:  the right to peaceful assembly, to freedom of expression.  And we recognize their legitimate aspirations.

     We call on the governments of the region to listen to and respect the legitimate aspirations of their people and to reform accordingly.

     Q    Jay, there’s going to be a labor rally in Columbus about the time that the President is here.  There’s of course the unrest in Wisconsin.  You’re also seeing it in Ohio and Indiana, and there’s going to be a large protest of teachers in early March over labor rules proposed by that legislature.  Is the President going to address any of that today?  And does he have any thoughts on this ongoing situation?

     MR. CARNEY:  I don’t have anything for you on what the President will say today.  He’s focused very much — with regard to that, he’s focused very much on this important forum, small business forum. 

And as far as his thoughts, he expressed them in an interview with a Wisconsin television station — I believe it was last week — where he made clear that he absolutely recognizes the need that state governments have, governors and legislators, to deal with their fiscal situation; that everyone needs to tighten their belts, and that includes public sector employees.  But he also expressed his concern that the efforts specifically in Wisconsin were aimed at going right after the collective bargaining rights of unions.

So — but that’s the extent of the White House involvement.

Q    What about Kasich’s efforts in Ohio to go after collective bargaining?

MR. CARNEY:  I don’t have anything on that for you.

Q    What’s his reaction to the House vote at 4:40 a.m. in the morning, Saturday morning?

MR. CARNEY:  Look, we continue to believe that we will be able to work out common ground on these issues.  I would point you to the fact that all four leaders of Congress, leaders of the House, leaders of the Senate, have expressed their confidence that we can work this out before March 4th, and we believe we can.

Q    Does the administration stand by a veto threat if the House-passed package gets to the President’s desk with those big cuts?

MR. CARNEY:  Well, the White House’s position, the President’s position was clearly stated in that statement of administration policy.  That hasn’t changed.

Q    Any contingency plans yet?  Are you still working on any plans for a shutdown?

MR. CARNEY:  I would refer you to the Office of Management and Budget, which is the agency within the executive branch that needs to deal with these sorts of things.  And I’d simply state that there have been contingency plans for government shutdowns since 1980, and those plans are obviously updated accordingly, but they’ve been around for a long time.

Q    You said 1980?

MR. CARNEY:  1980 is what I understand, but I’d refer you to Ken Baer at OMB.

Q    How confident are you that a shutdown can be avoided?

MR. CARNEY:  Well, as I said, we believe, as do the leaders of the House and the Senate, including Senator McConnell and Speaker Boehner — we agree with them that we do not want a shutdown of the government and that we can come to an agreement that avoids that.

Q    Any comment on the Iranian warships going through the Suez Canal today?

MR. CARNEY:  Nothing new beyond what I said Friday, I think it was, which was that we monitor that situation closely.  And obviously Iranian behavior in the region is something we always watch.

Anything else before we land, which looks to be in about —

Q    Any minute.

MR. CARNEY:  — two minutes to three minutes?  I don’t want anyone to get hurt. 

Q    Thanks, Jay.

MR. CARNEY:  Are you good?  Thanks a lot.

                      END             10:49 A.M. EST