Press Conference on Humanitarian Operations in Somalia

Unless it received new funding from donors immediately, United Nations humanitarian operations in Somalia would begin 2010 with “zero” in the bank, a “life-threatening” situation that could trigger a spillover of people into neighbouring states like Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya, said Mark Bowden, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia.

Addressing journalists at an afternoon press conference on the humanitarian situation in that country, he said Somalia was the setting for a long-running humanitarian crisis, brought on by drought and made worse by a collapse of government.  Last year, well over 3 million people were affected, and over half suffered from acute food insecurity and needed regular humanitarian assistance to survive.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative for Somalia, Rozanne Chorlton, who spoke alongside Mr. Bowden, said at least $12 million was needed in the first quarter of 2010 to fund critical services for children, with much more required to fund activities for the rest of year.

“A severely malnourished child is nine times more likely to die than a child who doesn’t have malnutrition,” she said.  “It’s not as if we’ve got three months to wait or six months to wait.  A very sick child with severe malnutrition can die in a matter of days.”

Mr. Bowden said Somalia had the largest number of displaced persons in the world, living in unsanitary camps with poor water and sanitation services.  Each person had at most 8 litres of water to use, well below the amount set by humanitarian standards.

In a typical year, there was enough money left over from the previous twelve months to fund activities in the first quarter, journalists were told.  But, unlike this year -- where one quarter of available funds was carried over from 2008 -- next year’s coffers were down to nothing, since only a portion of the $900 million requested this year was actually received.

Mr. Bowden blamed the global economic downturn for the dearth of funds.  For countries that were able to maintain their level of funding, currency fluctuations had reduced the value of their donations, he said, explaining that aid was calculated in dollars.

The economic slowdown had also caused a drop in remittances from the Somali diaspora, he added.

Responding to a journalist, Mr. Bowden acknowledged that some donor countries, including large donors like the United States, were holding back their assistance in fear that aid would end up in the hands of extremists.  Some countries were also concerned that their aid would not reach the intended recipients because of limitations on movement.

However, he assured correspondents that, while access to certain parts of the country had become more difficult over the years, many areas were still accessible.&nb