Near Famine Conditions Slamming Horn of Africa Amid Donor Fatigue (REPORT)

At a UNICEF-supported feeding centre in East Africa, a weary mother pauses after her baby received emergency therapeutic food. CREDT: M Bociurkiw(HN, July 6, 2011 -- UPDATED 1820 GMT) - Horrific scenes are being reported by aid workers dealing with the worst drought to hit the Horn of Africa in 60 years.

"A human tragedy of unimaginable proportions" is how the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, described the crisis.

After two years of successive drought, parts of Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and neighbouring countries are reeling from near-famine like conditions. It is estimated that as many as 10 million people are affected across the Horn of Africa.

Climate change, rising food prices and violence have conspired to keep food from getting to people in the region.

In a separate development, rebel leaders in Somalia - one of the countries worst affected by the crisis, with about 2.8 million people affected - announced Tuesday they are lifting a two-year-long ban on aid agencies supplying food.

"We have now decided to welcome all Muslim and non-Muslim aid agencies to assist the drought-stricken Somalis in our areas," Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, Al Shabaab spokesman, told a news conference in Mogadishu.

The United Nations has flagged as emergency areas large areas of Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Djibouti and Somalia.

A HUMNEWS correspondent in Ethiopia reports that despite frequent rains in the capital, Addis Ababa, areas in the far eastern and southern corners are seeing their worst drought for a decade, with some 3.2 million people in need of emergency aid. The correspondent says that Nairobi residents report far less rainfall and increasing power outages.

The Ethiopian economy is particularly vulnerable to climate changes, as almost half of its GDP is generated by the agricultural sector. Just a few years ago, some 14 million Ethiopians stood on the brink of starvation from a killer drought, saved only by massive international aid.

Regional news agencies have broadcast video showing fields covered with dead livestock, and with thousands of hungry people streaming into feeding centres in camps like Dadaab, already the world's largest refugee settlement, which is hosting many people from Somalia.

"Dadaab is a place where life hangs in the balance every single day," reported the BBC's Ben Brown from a refugee camp. "July 2011 and once again this corner of Africa is cursed, teetering on the brink of disaster."

The UN says the situation is classified as a humanitarian emergency but that the situation is deteriorating quickly and could wind up as a famine/catastrophe.

An estimated 1,000 people are entering Ethiopia and Kenya from Somalia every day, according to the UN's Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). It is believed that a quarter of the population has been uprooted.

"We haven't seen the worst of this drought yet," Mohamed Elmi, Minister for Development of Northern Kenya, told The Daily Telegraph. "In Kenya, which is already significantly affected by the drought in Somalia, malnutrition levels are well beyond emergency levels and saving lives is becoming our major focus."

Unfortunately, many aid agencies are struggling with their own financial crisis - with the front line World Food Programme (WFP) being forced to pull out of countries such as Burundi. OCHA says its recent appeal for money is only 40 percent funded.

OCHA chief Baroness Amos has urged donors today to "dig deep" to help the millions affected.A regional feeding centre: in most cases families walk several kilometers to seek emergency feeding for their malnourished children. Cutbacks by WFP at this centre in Burundi means that siblings of ill children no longer receive nutrition. CREDIT: M Bociurkiw

She said: "The scale of the problem is much greater than we had anticipated last year. We need the money very quickly as children and some adults are turning up in refugee camps malnourished."

Complicating the situation for aid agencies in Somalia is a general state of lawlessness and banditry.

- HUMNews Staff

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