Dire humanitarian situation as drought intensifies

The humanitarian situation in Djibouti has reached a critical level as a result of consecutive years of drought, the acting United Nations humanitarian coordinator in the Horn of Africa country has said. "We have already noted severe malnutrition in some children and are worried of further deterioration of the children's nutritional status," said Aloys Kamuragiye, who is also the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) representative, on Tuesday. "We are definitely in an emergency situation," he told IRIN. Kamuragiye said UN agencies, their partners, donors and the government were conducting a four-day rapid assessment throughout the country to determine the exact magnitude of the problem. In the meantime, UNICEF and the UN World Health Organization were preparing to launch therapeutic feeding centres in the capital, Djiboutiville, to support the ministry of health. In its January report, the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS Net) estimated that 70,000 Djiboutians were in need of emergency assistance. Most of those affected were pastoralists. However, the government estimates that 150,000 people are in need, said Abdullah Ilmi, head of ONARS (National Office for the Assistance of Refugees and Victims of Disasters). "That is a huge percentage for a country of less than a million people," said Kamuragiye. Djibouti has a population of about 700,000 people. Ilmi said many pastoralist families had already started moving to urban centres. "There has been an influx of rural people, who have lost everything, into towns," he noted. "The government has set up food distribution centres in rural areas to reduce the number of people moving to urban areas in search of food." There had been very little response to the government's appeal for help, according to Ilmi. "The government issued the appeal two weeks ago, and so far only Japan pledged 130,000,000 DJF [about US $735,000]," he told IRIN on Tuesday. Kamuragiye said that the population's coping mechanisms were almost exhausted. Water was scarce, with water catchments either drying up or at dangerously low levels. Livestock were dying and crops had failed. "For many who depend on livestock for their food and income this means the loss of their livelihood," he noted. According to the UN Development Pprogramme, over 42 percent of the country’s population already live below the extreme poverty line of less than US $1 a day, which limits their capacity for recovery. However, the government has been very active in preparing poverty alleviation policies, and a three-year integrated recovery programme from 2004 to 2006 is being implemented.