Urgent efforts needed to avert further crises in Somalia, Yemen - UN relief
officials
3 July 2014
Urgent action is needed to prevent a worsening of the humanitarian crises in
both Somalia and Yemen, senior United Nations relief officials warned today,
as they urged donors to help them step up their response as well as to
consolidate the recent gains made in both countries.
In Somalia, the widespread food security crisis is set to deteriorate over
the second half of the year, according to the UN Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). More than one million people are internally
displaced and 875,000 people need urgent life-saving food assistance.
"Failure to act decisively to address humanitarian needs will not only lead
to another humanitarian crisis but will also undermine the peace and
State-building gains of the last two years, jeopardizing this rare window
for Somalia to graduate from failed-State status," said OCHA's Director of
Operations, John Ging.
"All the signs we saw before 2011's severe famine are here - reduced
humanitarian access, insecurity, increasing food prices, delayed rains and
rapidly worsening malnutrition among children. It is vital that we act now
to avert another disaster."
Mr. Ging was part of a group of emergency directors from UN humanitarian
agencies and partner organizations that visited Somalia and Yemen last week.
Briefing reporters in New York on the visits, he noted that underfunding was
a critical concern for the humanitarian response. For example, the $933
million humanitarian appeal for Somalia is only 25 per cent funded.
Children are among those most in need, Ted Chaiban, Director of Emergency
Programmes for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), told the briefing, pointing
out that there are 200,000 children in Somalia who are severely
malnourished.
"The protocol, the systems to treat those children are available, as is the
access to a significant extent, but the resources are not there. So it's
very important that we do everything to arrest any further deterioration of
the situation from a humanitarian standpoint," he stressed.
In Yemen, Mr. Chaiban noted, the sheer numbers of children suffering from
life-threatening or debilitating forms of malnutrition are even greater due
to chronic underdevelopment and persistent insecurity.
"One in five Yemeni children is underweight, 58 per cent are stunted. After
Afghanistan, Yemen has the second highest level of chronic malnutrition," he
said, adding that other protection concerns include keeping children in
school, as well as reducing child marriage and child labour.
Overall, there are 14.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in
Yemen - or 58 per cent of the population; 10.5 million of them are food
insecure; and there are 320,000 registered internally displaced persons. The
country is also plagued by ongoing instability, lacks basic social services
and is on "the brink of economic collapse," warned the two officials.
"This is one of the largest humanitarian challenges in terms of scale and
scope that we face in the world. It is extremely fragile there at the
moment," said Mr. Ging.
"The humanitarian response is not the solution for Yemen. Yet, the
humanitarian component of the international intervention is the one that's
having to pick up the pieces most immediately."
Adding to the country's woes, said Mr. Ging, is the "curse of khat," a drug
that is undermining health as well as the economy and development of Yemen.
He stressed the need for a plan to address this scourge, noting that 70 per
cent of the water resources are estimated to be used for the growing of this
drug.
Despite the constraints, he went on to highlight the important humanitarian
work that is being carried out in Yemen. One million people are in receipt
of food assistance; 300,000 people have received nutritional support;
200,000 have benefited from water and sanitation support; 1.5 million are
receiving health care support; and 400,000 vulnerable and conflict-affected
people are receiving protection services.
At the same time, he warned that underfunding is jeopardizing the capacity
to respond, noting that the $529 million humanitarian appeal for Yemen is
only 33 per cent funded.
"Despite the extremely challenging conditions in both Somalia and Yemen, we
saw at first hand the excellent, life-saving work that our humanitarian
partners are able to do when funding is available, putting their own lives
in danger to reach those who need assistance most," Mr. Ging said.
"I urge donors to help us build on the gains made in both countries. If we
fail to act now setbacks are inevitable, which could have repercussions well
beyond Somalia and Yemen."