United Nations humanitarian chief visits drought-affected Somali region in Ethiopia

(Addis Ababa, 9 July 2011): On the second and final day of her mission to the country, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos visited the drought-affected Somali region of Ethiopia, underscoring the need to scale up humanitarian response to the drought and improve access and security for humanitarian workers operating in the region.

“It is essential that the humanitarian community has both the funding and resources needed to meet urgent needs, as well as access to the populations affected by the drought,” Ms. Amos emphasized.

Ms. Amos travelled to the regional capital, Jijiga, to meet with Regional President Abdi Ilie and other regional officials. While welcoming the leadership provided by the regional authorities in terms of preparedness and response planning, Ms. Amos underscored the need to enhance measures to ensure the safety and security of humanitarian staff in the region and help to get to people in need.

Over the past few years, humanitarian operations in parts of the Somali Region have been affected by limited access to some areas due to insecurity. “We need to work together to address these security challenges,” Ms. Amos said.

Ms. Amos also travelled to Bisle kebele in northern Somali region, where she visited a health and nutrition screening centre being run by a mobile team with support from Save the Children UK. In Besle, Ms. Amos met with women from the community who had brought their children for nutritional screening. She also had an opportunity to have a brief meeting with the elders of the community.

Severe water shortages earlier in the year resulted in more than 1 million people – nearly a quarter of the region’s population – requiring water trucking by the end of April. Although temporarily relieved by the late arrival of rains in May, drought conditions are expected to reemerge in the coming months before the next scheduled rains, between October and December 2011.

Large-scale livestock movements have been reported across the Somali region, and to and from neighbouring Somalia and Kenya in 2011 as pastoralist communities move to places with better pasture and water supplies. Livestock deaths have resulted in smaller herd sizes – by 40 to 60 per cent in some areas – and milk production. Milk is an essential component of women’s and children’s nutrition in most pastoralist communities.