Children will die in Somalia crisis aid workers warn

With no funding for next years food, water, sanitation, health and other vital needs war-torn, drought-ravaged Somalia is facing a humanitarian crisis.And the fall out from the life-threatening situation could spill over into a major regional crisis for the country’s neighbours, senior United Nations officials warn, blaming the global recession and the hijacking of international aid for the massive shortfall. “The main message that we have is that the potential humanitarian funding crisis is life-threatening," the organisation’s humanitarian coordinator Mark Bowden said. "Time is precious, if we don't resolve this, the humanitarian crisis consequences will be very grave." Unless the east African country can put its hands on £7m funding in the first quarter of 2010, the consequences will  be dire, said Roseanne Chorlton, Somalia coordinator for the United Nations Children's Fund. "People will die. Children will die," Ms Chorlton said.

The ongoing civil war that began in 1991 and grew to involve neighboring Ethiopia in 2006 has helped make Somalia home to one of the world's longest-running humanitarian crises. After Ethiopian forces withdrew in early 2009, the southern half of Somalia fell into the hands of Islamist rebels.Serious drought has worsened the situation for the 3.6 million people in the country needing aid.With roughly 4 million people in need of food aid, Somalia in the midst of one of the worst humanitarian crisis since the famine in the 1990s, Mr Bowden said as the UN called for a total of £420m for the whole of 2010. But  reaching that target will prove difficult. Funding for Somalia in 2009 fell short by more than 50 percent, said Mr  Bowden. “In Somalia, there is fatigue and concern as to whether assistance can get through," he told reporters. "We're not seeing that money, and unless something dramatic happens we will start 2010 with zero," Mr Bowden said."

Without sufficient aid, further strain would be placed on Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya, which are often destination sites for displaced Somalis.”He added that decision-making has been quite slow in a number of donor countries that have traditionally contributed funds to Somalia. The United States, which is responsible for a "large chunk" of assistance to Somalia, has been among those concerned about terrorist interception of foreign aid. Bowden explained that terrorism was "only one element" of the funding gap. "There's a sort of indiscriminate view that all aid is difficult to deliver and I think that that's not the case," he said. "It is not impossible to provide assistance there, though we recognize the constraints.”

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children