Oxfam: Somalia famine ‘out of control’

THE UN and aid agencies are warning that the famine in Somalia will grow in size and severity unless the world community responds with more aid.

Oxfam said the Somalia famine crisis is “spiralling out of control” and that donations are failing to keep pace with the level of need.

The UN’s humanitarian aid office warned that unless it sees a massive increase in donations, the famine will spread to five or six more regions inside Somalia. Currently two regions of Somalia are classified as famine zones.

The UN says another $1.4 billion is needed. More than 12 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti need food aid.

The US said it is easing sanctions related to Somalia’s al-Qaida-linked Shebab in hopes of boosting assistance in a worsening famine in the lawless country.

Officials said they would maintain sanctions against the militia, which controls drought-hit parts of southern Somalia, but that the US will not prosecute any aid group that makes “good-faith efforts to deliver food”.

“Our number one goal is to save lives. Time is not on our side”, a US official said on condition of anonymity.

Relief groups have been struggling to send food into regions of Somalia under the rule of the Shebab, which earlier booted out Western aid organisations and has given mixed signals as Somalia is hit by a major drought.

The US imposed sanctions on the Shebab in 2008 which makes it a crime to provide any support, raising fears among some aid groups that they could face US prosecution if they work with the militia to bring in assistance.

“In the face of this evolving crisis and the extreme humanitarian need, we have issued new guidance to allow more flexibility,” another US official said.

Meanwhile, the Horn of Africa food crisis shows the need to provide the world’s poor with better access to family planning as part of efforts to prevent future tragedies, the head of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said.

Despite regular food shortages and high infant mortality, the region’s population has more than doubled since it was hit by major droughts in 1974, spurred by factors such as limited contraception use and a tradition of large families. While stressing the root cause of the crisis was the recent rain failures, UNFPA executive director Babatunde Osotimehin said it highlighted the plight of those living in parts of the world where the land struggles to support human life.

“We need to improve food production ... and to work with member states to ensure women and particularly young girls have access to education, including sexual education, and access to health services and reproductive health services including family planning,” Osotimehin said.