United Nations has said famine no longer exists in three of the worst-affected areas of Somalia following the intervention of aid agencies and rainfall.
The new UN report is the first sign of a slow reversal in the tide of tragic news from Somalia. Three regions of southern Somalia — Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle — which were famine zones a few months ago are now classified as one step less severe than a famine. Three other areas, including the squalid camps in the capital, Mogadishu and Afgoye, remain in a state of famine.
The report includes that the Somalia diaspora and Islamic Aid agencies, like Turkish groups and other Muslim organizations have been ramping up operations and scrambling to find ways to obviate the Shabab restrictions, relying on technologies like sending money electronically by cellphone so people in famine zones can buy food from local markets. According to the report released Friday, the efforts seem to be working, more food is flowing through markets and prices are falling. Seasonal rains have also replenished pastures.
Oxfam’s country director for Somalia welcomed the announcement.
“The latest figures show that aid is reaching people in some of the worst-affected areas, and it highlights the amazing work being done by Somali organizations to tackle famine,” Senait Gebregziabher said.
The death rate has declined in many parts of Somalia over the past two months, according to the report by a food security research unit at the United Nations. In the Middle and Lower Juba region of southern Somalia, the rate of acute malnutrition has declined from about 35 per cent in August to about 29 per cent in October.
The Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit survey said famine would persist throughout the end of December 2011 in Middle Shabelle and among areas of Afgoye and Mogadishu which are housing camps for a large size of internally displaced people, the size of the population of the IDPs in need of emergency assistance to save both lives and livelihoods in these areas will likely remain near current levels.
Source: The Nomad Times
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