| Conflict in Somalia impeding effective fight against famine |
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In its latest publication on the numbers of Somali people currently at risk of starvation, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) declared a sixth area suffering famine conditions affecting an estimated 4 million people. In light of recent calls to increase aid provided to the affected regions, experts have warned against the general perception that by just providing enough money, the Somali famine could be tackled effectively. In an effort to provide agricultural emergency assistance for one million farmers and herders in Somalia, the FAO has appealed for $70 million in funds and announced to further expand its emergency interventions. According to the latest numbers published by the FAO, more than 1 million people throughout Somalia received general food assistance in August compared with 750,000 in July. Despite the increase of humanitarian assistance in the country, the famine is however expected to further spread across the southern part of the country until the end of the year. The provision of aid to people in need has been impeded by on-going conflicts between the transitional government and armed Islamist groups, notably al-Shabaab, putting in question the adequacy of action taken by the international community. By withholding aid from those in need and preventing Somali famine refugees from leaving the draught affected regions, armed groups are to be held responsible for the worsening of the situation, experts have claimed. Instead of further asking the public for more funds, aid agencies should start to admit that many people won’t receive any help at all, according to international president of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Dr Unni Karunakara. “We may have to live with the reality that we may never be able to reach the communities most in need of help”, he said after having returned from a trip to the war-torn country. “Agencies and aid bodies are not always without their flaws, but it is al-Shabaab, not drought, that stands between the starving and the food”, stressed Thomas Keneally from Saturday's Globe and Mail. Instead of mainly focusing on the improvement of food production and aid delivery in the region, the international community should directly address the power groups dominating the country, experts have stressed. As Joakim Gundul, a Kenyan assessor of aid results, puts it: “While helping starving people, you are also feeding the power groups who make a business out of the disaster. … You're saving people's lives today so they can die tomorrow.” Sources:
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