Drought increasing risk of malnutrition in the north -UNICEF

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that a drought currently affecting the Sool and Sanaag regions of northern Somalia is increasing the risk of malnutrition. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the agency said that in response, UNICEF and other humanitarian agencies would launch "a second phase of emergency interventions this week". Last month, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) delivered 732 mt of "mixed food commodities" to 39 villages in the area. UNICEF noted that the Sool Plateau - covering parts of Sool and Sanaag regions within the borders of the self-declared republic of Somaliland in northwestern Somalia - had suffered four consecutive years of drought, resulting "in large-scale food insecurity among pastoral populations". Recently, a combined "UNICEF- and WHO-supported" team visited 72 villages in the area and "provided vaccination services, clinical and antenatal care, together with nutritional screening and dry supplementary rations intended to complement WFP food distributions", said the statement. "The situation is fragile," it quoted UNICEF Somalia Emergency Officer Robert McCarthy as saying. "Our planning is based on the assumption that children will be increasingly vulnerable to malnutrition and disease in the coming weeks. In particular, nomadic communities who have lost significant numbers of their livestock will require continued food and non-food assistance." The statement noted that humanitarian agencies were also concerned about the growing tension between the self-declared republic of Somaliland and the neighbouring self-declared autonomous region of Puntland in northeastern Somalia, both of which lay claim to Sool and Sanaag. "Ongoing [humanitarian] interventions could be jeopardised or even halted if the situation escalates into violent conflict," it warned. Although the Sool Plateau falls geographically within Somaliland, most of its resident clans are associated with Puntland. "Efforts to reach affected communities, often in remote areas, have been possible because of the cooperation and assistance of the concerned authorities in Somaliland and Puntland. We appeal to them to maintain a stable environment and ensure the continuity and effectiveness of response activities," the statement quoted UNICEF Somalia Senior Programme Officer Leila Pakkala as saying.