SOCPD urges the international community to act

Summary: Somalia faces a serious drought that has caused the death of animals and human beings in Southern regions of Somalia. The inhabitants of the Southern regions of Somalia were faced with food and water shortages which appeared to have resulted in the death of 33 children, although the number has been rapidly increasing day by day as they have not got emergency relief.

The famine has reached an unacceptable level of casualties among animals and human beings alike. Most of the people affected are farmers and nomads whose lives depend on water and cattle.

“The famine has also caused severe displacements as people are fleeing from rural areas to nearest towns and children and ederly are dying during the travels” said Faduma Aliyow in an interview with SOCPD in Mogadishu. She is a mother of five children and has lost one of them during her travels from Tugarhosle to Baidoa. She reached Mogadishu on the 22nd of January 2006.

More than 200 families from the Southern regions of Somali  is said to have arrived to Mogadishu yesterday while others are still on the road to Mogadishu.

However, environmental problems, instability, lack of a functioning central government, together with the drought will be exposing Somali children to a chaotic situation unless emergency relief is put in place soon.

The IDP camps in Mogadishu are getting more and more crowded and the number of families reaching the capital from the Southern regions of Somalia are surely in the increase.

SOCPD has organised forums through local radios in Somalia to discuss the situation of the newly displaced people that are arriving in Mogadishu and how businesspeople and duty bearers could support these people, as well as the roles and responsibility of duty bearers when such droughts happen in Somalia.

SOCPD would like to send an appeal to the international community, including international organisations working for child rights issues, to send emergency support to suffering children in Somalia.

Owner: Mohamed Abdi Mohamed

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