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UNICEF protests at "sabotage" of aid work in Somalia
Written by: Frank Nyakairu
Somali children stand beside their makeshift hut in a camp outside Mogadishu in a 2008 file photo. REUTERS/Omar Faruk
The United Nations agency for children on Wednesday accused Somali militiamen of aggression and hostility against its aid workers in Somalia and said they were putting over 40,000 lives at risk. In a recent upsurge in violence, Al Shabaab Islamist militia took over of a UNICEF compound in Jowhar---the organisation's biggest operational hub---north of the capital Mogadishu, in a push to overthrow the federal transition government. Since the beginning of May, over 200 people have been killed and more that 122,000 displaced by the fierce fighting in Mogadishu. "While local authorities and UNICEF maintain cooperative relationships in many areas of Somalia, we are witnessing and experiencing an unprecedented level of aggression against humanitarian work in Jowhar, a situation that should cause a great deal of concern not only to the aid community but primarily to Somali communities," said Hannan Sulieman, Acting UNICEF Representative to Somalia. Highly valuable nutritional supplies meant to be distributed to 40,000 of the most vulnerable children under three years old to prevent malnutrition were looted by the militiamen, UNICEF said. The aid agency said that its nutrition and sanitation projects risked total collapse if the Jowhar UNICEF compound remained occupied and inaccessible to UNICEF staff "Our aid delivery network consists of over 100 non-governmental and community-based organizations which we built and cultivated over the years to provide emergency health, nutrition, water and sanitation, education and protection services." said Sulieman. Last year three men armed with pistols and assault rifles ambushed a UNICEF worker as he was walking in the southern town of Hudur. "Perpetrators of these unacceptable and irresponsible actions must understand that their actions have serious consequences on their own children and women, their own communities and people" said Sulieman. Al Shabaab controls some areas of Mogadishu and is resisting a push by President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's security forces to chase its fighters out of town. In the provinces, it is fighting a pro-government moderate Islamist militia, with towns and territory often changing hands between the two sides.
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