FROM THE FIELD
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is extremely concerned about the worsening humanitarian situation in Somalia. Hundreds of thousands of families have been forced to flee their homes in the capital, Mogadishu, and other areas in recent weeks due to an upsurge in violence. This has been compounded by severe drought and poor harvests, which have left many pastures barren and caused herders to lose their animals."In addition to the conflict, people are now faced with another prolonged drought," said ICRC delegate Daniel Gagnon. "This is said to be the third consecutive year without rains, mainly in south and central Somalia. These people depend on livestock rearing for their livelihood. The drought is causing them to lose livestock – they cannot water the animals and there are no grazing pastures. It is compounding an already fragile situation." The ICRC has been distributing water, food, blankets, cooking utensils and clothes to the displaced people. The UK government's Department for International Development (DfID) donated £3m this year through the British Red Cross for relief work in Somalia.In 2007, the British Red Cross supported the ICRC with £100,000 for medical equipment in hospitals following a surge in fighting in Somalia. In 2006, the British Red Cross also launched an appeal to support food distributions by the ICRC when Somalia and the Horn of Africa were affected by serious drought. The British Red Cross has also sent delegates in the past to carry out ICRC work in the country.Read full ICRC interview[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
