Somalia is Dying - Facts Analysis

Story:

Somalia Is Dying
29,000 Children Have Died
300000 Will Die Soon
Media Is In Historic Silence

If u have a heart or compassion share this photo.

We can share jokes and spam mails to our friends & networks please for once share this and lets try to help them.

‘Helping hands are better than Praying Lips’ – give us your helping hand. Share it with all ur friends.

At-least peoples will know wats going in world. You can Google this information if you don’t know about it.

Friends So Please Share….Your one share can Help to spread this information. We share So many Stupid Things on Facebook and
ignore these types of things which can save so many lifes.

I hope you all will share. Lets See how many of you really care for this.

Analysis:

It is a fact that on 20 July, 2011 the United Nations declared outright famine in lower Shabelle and southern Bakool regions of Somalia. Further, on 3 August, 2011 UN declared the famine in three more areas of Somalia, the capital city of Mogadishu, Afgoye corridor outside the capital and the Middle Shabelle region. It was declared as one of the worst droughts in Somalia in last 60 years. Acute malnutrition and starvation had killed tens of thousands of people. On August 4th, 2011, a U.S. estimate based on nutrition and mortality surveys verified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that more than 29,000 children below the age of 5 have died in the past 90 days in southern Somalia alone. According to U.N., 640,000 Somali children were acutely malnourished, and at the height of the crisis, 750,000 people in the Horn of Africa were at risk of death.

The declaration of famine followed massive influx of starving adults and children into the capital city. It also caused tens of thousands to flee from famine-hit Somalia to Ethiopia and Kenya in search of food. As a result of this, an outbreak of disease occurred, and as a part of emergency program to prevent this, UNICEF was trying to vaccinate more than 300,000 children in Kenya, not that 300,000 children were going to die in Somalia. The video below shows some of the pictures taken during Somalia famine.

The reasons for famine in Somalia:

The reasons for famine in Somalia can not be completely contributed to series of natural droughts, failed harvests and inflation, but also man-made causes of hunger and starvation in this region, and the practical difficulties in addressing them. Most of the southern Somalia was controlled by militant groups who insisted that there is no famine and banned all kinds of aid groups apart from that of the International Committee of Red Cross. Also, there was no proper central government in Somalia. As a result, the Somali people were trapped between various forces trying to weaken their opponents. There was no access to healthcare in majority of the country. The video below briefly shows and explains the pathetic condition of Somalia during famine last year.

All these conditions developed the famous pirates in Somalia who seek to many piracy and hijacking activities on sea. You can read about it here.

UN declared end of famine

However, on 3 February 2012, the United Nations declared an end to famine conditions in Somalia, but also warned that the crisis in the region of Horn of Africa is not yet over and it still requires continued efforts to restore food security and help people resume their normal lives. According to a combined report of UN and the US government, the number of Somalians in need of emergency humanitarian assistance has dropped from 4 million to 2.3 million.

After visiting southern Somalia, Jose Graziano da Silva, the director general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) told a press conference:

“Long-awaited rains, coupled with substantial agricultural inputs and the humanitarian response deployed in the last six months, are the main reasons for this improvement. However, the crisis is not over. It can only be resolved with a combination of rains and continued, coordinated, long-term actions that build up the resilience of local populations and link relief with development.”

UN humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos warned by saying, “While sustained humanitarian efforts and a good harvest have helped to mitigate the crisis, we must not forget that the progress made is fragile.”

Mr. Mark Bowden, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia also voiced a similar concern that the country can ‘easily slip back into very severe conditions’ unless the present assistance and support are maintained.

More importantly, a UNHCR spokesperson, Adrian Edwards said, “While famine and drought conditions have eased across Somalia, insecurity continues to cause displacement within the country.”

Somalia after one year of famine

After one year, on July 20, 2012, BBC news reported the condition of Somalia as ‘still critical’. One can still see lots of men with guns, hundreds of bare tents and a bone-dry countryside. The militant group still controls most of the southern Somalia. Inspite of these on-going security concerns, there were some partial rains, which helped in some real progress in Somalia.

“The situation is still critical, but things are improving. We do have things under control – we are better positioned. We are very unlikely to have another famine,” Mark Bowden said.

“Statistically, the famine may be over now, but we are not out of the woods yet. We’re concerned that just by declaring the famine is over, people may think everything is fine. It’s not fine. One in five children is malnourished. Donors have been very generous but we need to sustain this momentum to make these children resilient,” said Sikander Khan, the head of UNICEF Somalia.

To allow the Somalia farmers become self-sufficient, FAO’s Somalia boss, Luca Alinovi said, “We need support for two or three years, but the funding ‘is not yet there’.”

Latest developments in Somalia

In September 2012, as a sign of growing confidence, the first formal parliament of Somalia in more than 20 years was sworn in at the Mogadishu airport. This marked an end to the 8 year transitional period in Somalia. Also, the Kenyan maritime forces along with Somali national army are removing the hold of militants efficiently.

The picture shown in the message is actually a poster designed to address the food shortage in Somalia. The message can be shared, as it can bring in some helping hands, especially for those malnourished children.