Source: Oxfam East Africa/Creative Commons
A consensus has emerged that the drought in East Africa may be a natural disaster, but the famine was caused by human failures. Given the complexity of the story, we’re devoting this week’s Roundup to coverage during the past few days from a variety of sources.
UN: Relief Supplies Reaching More Famine-stricken Somalis
m&c Aug. 10: Humanitarian supplies, water, health and sanitation services are being delivered to more Somalis, in the famine that has already claimed the lives of tens of thousands of children, the UN said Wednesday. A major obstacle that had held up humanitarian access to Somalia’s worst-hit regions in the south was removed after the Islamist militant group al-Shabaab abruptly withdrew last week…
Somali Famine: Ghana Schoolboy Raises Aid Money
Peace FM Online Aug. 10: An 11-year-old Ghanaian schoolboy has so far raised more than $500 (£300) for victims of the famine in Somalia. Andrew Andasi launched his campaign last week after watching footage of people walking in search of food. He told the BBC he wanted to raise a total of $13m during his school holidays from private donations.
Piracy Hampers Delivery of Aid to Somalia
Gareowe Online Aug. 11: Piracy is hampering the delivery of food aid to Somalia, forcing relief agencies to use aircraft or less convenient ports that lengthen delivery time, the African Development Bank’s chief economist said on Thursday.
UN Warns of Growing Child Toll in Somali Famine
Middle East Online Aug. 11: Ten percent of Somali children aged under five are dying every 11 weeks in the country’s devastating famine, which is spreading faster than aid agencies can cope with, UN officials warned Wednesday… Across the famine zone, more than 13 children out of every 10,000 aged under five die each day…
UN Appeals for Another $1.3bn to Save Somalia
London Evening Standard Aug. 11: The United Nations warned today that the famine in East Africa is yet to peak and hundreds of thousands of people face starvation and death without a huge global response. UN deputy emergency relief coordinator Catherine Bragg appealed to the international community for $1.3 billion needed urgently to save lives. “Every day counts,” she told the UN Security Council.
Somali Famine: Families Flee Child Conscription
BBC News Aug. 11: Some Somalis have fled to Ethiopia for fear their children may be forcibly conscripted by Islamist insurgents, a UN refugee official has told the BBC. The UNHCR’s Alison Oman said some mothers at refugee camps in Ethiopia told her they left Somalia as they had nothing left to buy-off the militants.
For Some, Famine Means Picking which Child Dies
CBS News Aug. 11: Wardo Mohamud Yusuf walked for two weeks with one child on her back when her 4-year-old son collapsed at her side. The 29-year-old asked the families she was traveling with for help, but they continued on their way. Then she had to make a choice no parent should have to make. Yusuf left her 4-year-old behind.
Somali Refugee Settlement in Kenya Swells as Row Grows Over Empty Camp
The Guardian Aug. 11: Somalis fleeing famine and conflict have pushed the population of the world’s biggest refugee settlement past 400,000 for the first time, with the host Kenyan government apparently blocking the opening of an already built overspill camp.
About 1,400 Somalis arrive at Dadaab in Kenya’s north-east every day, pushing the boundaries of the refugee camps deeper into the arid scrubland, far from toilets, water points and security patrols.
Aid workers are desperate to move some of the most vulnerable people to a new £10m camp called Ifo 2. It was built late last year to house more than 40,000 people and features three schools, four water towers and several hundred latrines.
But the Kenyan government has refused to allow the camp to be opened, arguing that it suggests permanence and that the refugees should instead be cared for on Somali soil.
Famine Squeezes Life Out of Southern Somalia
The Star Aug. 12: The semi-arid lands surrounding the frontier town of Dhobley in southern Somalia have become a dust-bowl, the thorny scrub stripped of all vegetation as famine grips the region and an exodus of the starving empties its villages.
Dhobley’s buildings are riddled with bullet holes, the scars of battles earlier this year when Somali troops and fighters from the Ras Kamboni militia, allied to the embattled government, routed Islamist militants from the frontier town.
Shelter Needs Grow As More Somali Refugees Stream Into Kenya
Scoop/United Nations Aug. 12: The United Nations refugee agency said today it urgently needs 45,000 more tents as more Somalis continue to arrive in Kenya after fleeing drought, famine and conflict in their homeland.
More than 70,000 Somali refugees have arrived at the three camps that make up Kenya’s Dadaab refugee complex during June and July, bringing the overall population there to 440,000, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Cholera Spreads in Famine-Hit Somalia
Irish Times Aug. 12: A cholera epidemic is spreading in famine-hit Somalia, with alarming numbers of cases among people driven to the capital Mogadishu by a lack of food and water, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today.
The intestinal infection, often linked to contaminated drinking water, causes severe diarrhoea and vomiting, leaving small children especially vulnerable to death from dehydration
What the African Press is Saying about the Famine and Food Crisis in the Horn
The Guardian Aug. 12: With the 2012 Kenyan elections fast approaching, the government has been severely criticised for initially downplaying the impact of the drought and for disregarding warnings from the state metereological office. According to the Nairobi Star, some have also accused politicians of interfering with the relief effort to get votes ahead of next year’s polls.
In contrast, coverage of corporate- and citizen-led efforts to raise funds for the relief effort, especially the “Kenyans for Kenya” initiative, launched by Safaricom, Kenya Commercial Bank, and the Kenyan Media Owners’ Association, has been more positive.
