Famine Threatens Somali Children

In central and southern Somalia, previously the main crop-growing area, 83,000 children are suffering from malnutrition, of whom 135,000 are seriously affected and “at risk of dying,” UNICEF warned on Wednesday. These figures were published at the end of August by the Food Security Analysis Unit, which estimates that 1.5 million Somalis are currently in need of humanitarian aid to survive - a 50% increase compared to the same time last year. The number of refugees is growing rapidly : in the last four months no less than 400,000 people have fled the capital. Another indication of the worsening situation is the ever-increasing number of Somalis attempting to cross the Red Sea to reach the Arabian Peninsula.

Lack of stability is the main cause of the deteriorating situation. The transitional government, which was able to reclaim the capital from the hands of the Council of Islamic Courts in January, thanks to support from the Ethiopian Army, seems incapable of restoring peace. Attacks from the opposition, Islamic or otherwise, continue daily in Mogadishu, endangering citizens’ lives. On August 20, Médecins Sans Frontières alerted the world to the situation, pointing to an “alarming” decline in access to treatment in the capital, due to the conflicting sides’ lack of respect for patients and medical teams. The African Union Mission forces (AMISOM) (AMIS in English), supposed to restore peace, still only includes1500 troops from Uganda. And peace is clearly not going to happen overnight. Despite the international community’s calls for a full dialogue on all the issues, the two sides are refusing to talk to each other. At a conference in Asmara in Eritrea on Wednesday, 300 members of the opposition, including important Muslim leaders, committed themselves to toppling the government and its ally Ethiopia. As for the parties currently in power in the capital, their national reconciliation conference in Mogadishu came to a close at the end of August without reaching any practical solution.

The fighting has put the trade routes that offered Somalis an alternative source of income out of service. Kenya’s closing of its Somali border has affected hundreds of informal traders who used to do business between the two countries. Suppressed by the Islamic Councils, piracy has now been thriving again since January, disrupting sea trade as well as the transporting of food supplies. The government also led a campaign in May against the capital’s illegal street stalls, destroying the means of survival of numerous street vendors.

The turmoil of climate-change has also come to play its part in the catastrophic situation. Torrential rains that have beaten down on the Shabelle region have devastated the crops in a fertile area that normally provides enough grain for the whole country.