Famine Ravages Somalia in a World 

Less Likely to Intervene


A feeding center in Dollow, near the Ethiopian border in southern central Somalia.






By 
Published: September 15, 2011

DOLO, Somalia — Is the world about to watch 750,000 Somalis starve to death? The United Nations’ warnings could not be clearer. A drought-induced famine is steadily creeping across Somalia and tens of thousands of people have already died. The Islamist militant group the Shabab is blocking most aid agencies from accessing the areas it controls, and in the next few months three-quarters of a million people could run out of food, United Nations officials say.

Soon, the rains will start pounding down, but before any crops will grow, disease will bloom. Malaria, cholera, typhoid and measles will sweep through immune-suppressed populations, aid agencies say, killing countless malnourished people.

For the rest of the article click here.



 Somalis flee famine along ‘roads of death’


View Photo Gallery — Deepening humanitarian crisis in Somalia: U.N. officials are warning of a crisis in East Africa caused by a severe drought and fighting in Somalia, where tens of thousands of people have died.
By , Published: July 25 in The Washington Post

DOLO, Somalia — The displaced first began coming through Dolo, just a few miles from the Ethiopian border, in March. Now, the trickle has become a flood. The new arrivals clutch small bags of clothes and other meager possessions. Their children are thin, some emaciated. Almost every child appears small for his or her age. But they are the fortunate ones: They have survived their journeys, at least for now.  For more of The Washington Post story click here.


Here is a video clip from a PBS NewsHour report about the crisis:





       
East Africa Famine: How to Help from the PBS NewsHour
 

U.N. agencies are calling for $1.6 billion from donor countries to help speed food aid to malnourished and starving refugees in East Africa.  

More than 11 million people are in need of aid in the region beset by the worst drought in 60 years, and 800,000 children could die from starvation, the U.N. says.

Somalis are particularly vulnerable because the country is without a functioning government and al-Qaida linked groups have denied access to aid agencies.

"They have lost their crops. They have lost their livestock. They have lost any other means of income," Jeremy Konyndyk, policy director for Mercy Corps told the NewsHour. "In the case of people in southern Somalia, [they have] no choice but to either find aid, which is scant in that part of the world, or to flee."