NGOs urge international community to protect civilians

Insecurity, drought and record-high food prices have led to a rapid escalation of the humanitarian crisis in Somalia, with some 3.25 million people now needing emergency aid, NGOs said.

"We are appalled by the indiscriminate and disproportional use of force by all armed parties to the conflict, which is further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis," a 6 October statement by 52 national and international NGOs said.

While worsening insecurity continued to limit access for aid agencies, drought - caused by a fourth consecutive failure of the rains - was spreading across central and southern areas, according to the NGOs.

The situation has been aggravated by hyperinflation, which has caused an increase in food and water prices by up to 1,600 percent.

Piracy has also complicated the delivery of food aid. Chatham House, an international think-tank, recently urged the international community to formulate a plan to ensure that piracy did not interrupt the supply of food aid to the country.

The NGOs said 32 ships had been hijacked off the coast of Somalia between January and August 2008.

Civilians in crossfire

Half of Somalia's population needs emergency aid, a 77 percent increase since the beginning of 2008.

"The situation is expected to deteriorate further, with ordinary Somalis bearing the brunt of the cost," the group said. "Despite the ongoing political process we have not witnessed any lessening of the violence that continues to have a horrendous impact on civilians."

The NGOs included Adventist Relief Development Agency (ADRA), Cooperative Assistance for Relief Everywhere (CARE), Danish Refugee Council (DRC), HIV/AIDS Prevention and Child Protection Organisation (HAPO CHILD), International Medical Corps (IMC), Oxfam International, Relief International, World Concern and World Vision.

Photo: Abdullahi Salat/IRIN

Aid agencies have limited access to those in need

Renewed shelling in Mogadishu had led to the displacement of at least 37,000 civilians, bringing the estimated total of displaced Somalis to 1.1 million, the NGOs said.

"The average Somali has seen price increases for food and water of up to 1,000 percent, plunging many into worsening poverty," the group said. "One in six children under five, or approximately 180,000 children, is acutely malnourished in south and central Somalia."

At the same time, aid workers were increasingly targeted for "assassination and kidnapping". This year alone, 24 aid workers, 20 of whom were Somali nationals, were killed while the whereabouts of another 10 remain unknown.

"National and international aid agencies are prevented from responding effectively to the needs of ordinary Somalis because of violence and severely limited access," they said. "At present, south-central Somalia is almost entirely off-limits to international staff of aid agencies."

Urging parties to the conflict to allow aid agencies unhindered access to civilians in desperate need of emergency aid, the NGOs added: "The international community has completely failed Somali civilians. We call on the international community to make the protection of Somali civilians a top priority now."

The UN has described the security situation in Somalia as the worst the country has experienced since the early 1990s, while the UN's Food Security and Analysis Unit (FSAU) has described the level of human suffering and deprivation in Somalia as "shocking".

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