UAE agencies to boost Somalia famine aid

UAE aid groups hold summit in capital as drought and famine toll grows.

ABU DHABI // Humanitarian organisations met in the capital yesterday to hammer out a plan to boost aid to victims of the devastating famine in Somalia.

Aid groups held talks on how to speed up the relief effort to combat the unfolding humanitarian tragedy in the Horn of Africa, described by the United Nations as the worst hunger emergency in a generation.

A UAE aid delegation will visit Mogadishu in the next two days to co-ordinate the provision of food, medial supplies and drinkable water to famine victims.

Representatives from Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Humanitarian Foundation, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Foundation for Charitable and Humanitarian Works, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment and the UAE Office for the Coordination of Foreign Aid met at the Red Crescent Authority headquarters in Abu Dhabi.

The meeting follows directives by the UAE leadership to address the unfolding humanitarian tragedy.

Ahmed Al Mazrouei, chairman of the RCA, said the meeting was fruitful and would have a positive effect in backing international efforts to ease famine, indicating that it would also boost the UAE humanitarian role in Africa.

The UN launched a global appeal three weeks ago for Dh500 million to provide assistance to Somalis, and asked the UAE Government on July 13 for help and "direct intervention".

The UN refugee agency then formally asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to contribute. It said the UAE had been forthcoming in its recent efforts to help Libyan refugees, according to a statement by Brigitte Khair Mountain, head of office and senior adviser for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees

The famine is a result of a devastating drought in the Horn of Africa, compounded by war, neglect and inflated costs.

Famine is officially defined when two adults or four children per 10,000 people die of hunger each day and a third of children are acutely malnourished. In some areas of Somalia, six people are dying a day and more than half of children are acutely malnourished, said Mark Bowden, the UN's top official in charge of humanitarian aid in Somalia.

Across East Africa, more than 11.3 million people need aid, the World Food Programme said.

"Somalia is facing its worst food security crisis in the past 20 years," Mr Bowden said. "This desperate situation requires urgent action to save lives."