UN News Centre: Wrapping up a visit to Somalia and Kenya, the United Nations humanitarian chief today called attention to the crises in the two countries, where recurring droughts have deprived millions of already vulnerable people of their livelihoods, leaving them in need of assistance.“In the past three days, I have had an opportunity to see for myself the devastation and impact of conflict and climate-related disasters on people in Kenya and Somalia,” the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos, said in Nairobi, at the end of her visit.
She pointed out that dramatic and more recent crises – such as the floods in Pakistan last year and the 2009 earthquake in Haiti – frequently overshadow chronic crises like those in east Africa. “The world needs to continue to pay attention to what is happening in this part of the world,” Ms. Amos said. “We must always make sure that people understand the human impact of these crises. Behind every statistic, there is a human face.”
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, recurrent droughts and inadequate rainfall in Kenya and Somalia have eroded livelihoods, especially for pastoral communities which have become food insecure.
An estimated 1.6 million Kenyans, mostly inhabitants of the arid and semi-arid areas in the northern and eastern regions of the country, are experiencing drought-related hardship. In neighbouring Somalia, a combination of long-term insecurity and drought has driven up the number of people in need to 2.4 million, with the situation expected to worsen before the onset of the next rainy season in April….
Mountains west of Mogadishu, midway toward Luuq. Shot by Hiram A. Ruiz, who has released the images into the public domain
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It’s a concern that one of the major donors, which had a very good record, is missing and we very much hope those negotiations can be concluded to resume their assistance.”
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