UN launches $174 m humanitarian appeal for 2006

Civil unrest, a recent wave of assassinations and piracy in Somalia are hampering humanitarian access to over one million vulnerable people in the war-ravaged nation, aid officials said on Wednesday.

"Somalia remains one of the most difficult and dangerous humanitarian operating environments in the world," according to 2006 Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP), which was launched in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

"The high level of insecurity and increased threats posed by extremist groups has considerably reduced 'humanitarian space' in many areas, and particularly in southern Somalia," the humanitarian appeal document said.

The US $174,000,000 appeal focuses on the protection needs of Somalia's most vulnerable groups, especially the country's 370,000 to 400,000 internally displaced persons.

"This group suffers from a lack of access to basic services and lack of income-generating opportunities as well as being extremely vulnerable to food insecurity," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement.

The CAP prioritises education, particularly for girls, and seeks to improve and increase access to safe drinking water.

Nick Haan, the chief technical adviser for the Food Security and Analysis Unit Somalia, said civil insecurity, as well as the failure of the seasonal deyr rains (between October and December), could lead to a major humanitarian emergency in southern Somalia. The area is already facing possibly the "worst cereal production" in a decade.

Speaking at the launch, Max Gaylard, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, said, "The humanitarian needs of the Somalis are not going to go away quickly, and it is critically important that humanitarian action continues independent of the ongoing political and development process."

Somalia has been wracked by civil war for close to fifteen years, since the country was carved into factional fiefdoms following the collapse of the regime of the late President Muhammad Siyad Barre in 1991.

Civil insecurity, displacement, prolonged drought, flooding, disease and economic upheavals had all contributed to the grave humanitarian crises in the Horn of Africa nation, according to OCHA.

"Lack of sustained humanitarian access and limited operating space [...] have affected human survival in southern Somalia in recent years," the agency said. "The humanitarian community will be looking to work closely with local Somali partners and empower them to carry out the implementation and monitoring of humanitarian activities."

The complete CAP document is available at: http://ochaonline.un.org