Four million Somalis still remain in crisis, UN says

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has on Tuesday said four million people in Somalia remains in crisis, including 1.8 million in humanitarian emergency and 830,000 in an acute food and livelihood crisis.

OCHA spokesperson Elizabeth Byears said the October to December rains had started in the region and would provide much needed relief for many areas affected by dryness in the Horn of Africa.

OCHA said the south of Somalia had seen little to no rainfall which was expected to exacerbate the drought, result in unfavorable conditions for upcoming cropping activities and further deplete water resources.

The UN says torrential rain had hit drought displaced families living in camps in Mogadishu, causing additional suffers to the displaced.

UN warns of potential malaria outbreak in Somalia

Posted:19 Oct 2011 02:13 AM PDT

The United Nations has warned of a potential malaria outbreak in Somalia where two million people are already suffering from drought, famine and conflict.

The world body says urgent measures are needed to avert a possible malaria outbreak in the Horn of African country.

It said combined conditions of drought, famine and conflict put people at a higher risk of contracting the disease during the current rainy season.

The UN has called on its partners to escalate their response measures to prevent a malaria outbreak in the African country.

UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Somalia representative Sikander Khan, said the health of many Somalis is already extremely compromised due to the drought and famine, especially children who are suffering from malnutrition.

He stated that they must act as swiftly as possible to prevent deaths due to this deadly disease, saying that they are working with partners on prevention as well as providing treatment services as necessary.

In the next weeks, 280,000 long-lasting insecticide treated nets will be distributed in drought-affected regions such as Hiran, Lower Shabelle, Middle Shabelle, Lower Juba and Middle Juba in south-central Somalia.

Malaria, which is caused by a parasite transmitted to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes, kills nearly 800,000 people around the world every year with most of the deaths occurring in Africa.

UN urged to intervene to end Somalia turmoil

Tanzania, Kenya and Seychelles have called for United Nations’ intervention to end political instability in Somalia, reports say.

They say instability in Somalia affected tourism by undermining safety of tourists and security in the Eastern Africa Region, reports The Guardian.

In a joint declaration, the three countries said political chaos in Somalia had resulted into prevalence of piracy along the Eastern Coast of the Indian Ocean which was inhibiting growth of cruise tourism and also affecting other maritime activities including transportation of goods along the Indian Ocean waters thus increasing the costs of insurance significantly.

The joint declaration was signed by Tanzania’s Minister for Tourism and Natural Resources, Ezekiel Maige, Kenya’s Minister for Tourism, Najib Balala and Chief Executive Officer of the Seychelles Tourism Board, Alain St.Ange after meeting on the sidelines of the 19th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) in Gyeongju, South Korea.

They stressed that a lasting solution to the region’s security problem related to the political instability in Somalia and that it required concerted efforts and intervention by the international community.

In the declaration, the three countries underlined the importance of the General Assembly of the UNWTO to recognize the importance of tourism in the socio-economic sector of their three countries and its contribution towards their GDPs, foreign exchange earnings, employment and poverty alleviation.

They said that Cruise Tourism was one of the niche tourism market segments with huge potential for contributing to the region’s economic growth while ensuring environmental sustainability.

The move comes few days after the UK government outlined its ongoing commitment to tackle piracy off the coast of the East Africa.

The British Foreign Office Minister (For Africa), Henry Bellingham was quoted speaking at the British Chamber of Shipping that his government was 100 per cent behind a more robust response to piracy.

Bellingham said that a UK funded maritime intelligence and information coordination centre will be set up in Seychelles.

The minister said the FCO and Serious Organised Crime Agency were carrying out urgent work with the government of the Seychelles to implement the move.

The minister added that pirate financiers are the kingpins of piracy and targeting them effectively will have a huge impact on the ability of pirates to terrorise the high seas.