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Warlords join UN agencies to fight polio in Mogadishu

    NAIROBI

    Warlords and militia joined medical personnel in Mogadishu this week in a vaccination drive against polio, a WHO press release said on Thursday. Despite outbreaks of fighting in the city in the days leading up to the start of the campaign on Monday, with some 30 dead and 50 injured, medical teams succeeded in vaccinating an estimated 200,000 children. The operation was organised by national and international staff from WHO and UNICEF and carried out with the cooperation of warlords and clan militias. More than 650 vaccinators took part in the operation, selected according to clan loyalty to avoid the risk of crossing the wrong border. “In one area, the chief of the subsection said he would shoot any vaccinators who came, because we hadn’t recruited anyone from his sub-district. We sat for a long time to persuade him that it was his children that would suffer,” said UNICEF liaison officer Discipline Mohammed.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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