The international community must formulate a plan to ensure that piracy does not interrupt the supply of food aid to war-torn Somalia, a consultant with Chatham House, an international think-tank, has said.

"In the next three months, it is of paramount importance that a replacement for Canada is found to escort WFP [World Food Programme] ships," Roger Middleton, the Africa Programme consultant, stated in a paper  issued on 2 October. "If there is no permanent solution to the issue of escorting WFP ships, then Somalis will starve and the already severe problems in the region are likely to get worse."

Noting that piracy off the coast had "more than doubled" in 2008, Middleton said it was making aid deliveries to drought-stricken Somalia "ever more difficult and costly".

Somalia's self-declared autonomous region of Puntland seemed to be the base for most pirates. "Puntland is one of the poorest areas of Somalia, so the financial attraction of piracy is strong. Somalia's fishing industry has collapsed in the last 15 years and its waters are being heavily fished by European, Asian and African ships."

Ransom payments

Puntland foreign relations minister Ali Abdi Aware, however, said the payment of ransoms to pirates was complicating efforts to fight piracy. He denied claims that some Puntland officials were involved.

"We are doing everything we can ... but the money being paid to them is emboldening the pirates and undermining the authorities," he told IRIN. "Every time they get money they use some of it to buy more and more equipment to the point that they are better equipped than our coastguard."

Chatham House urged the international community to organise shipping into a safe lane to be patrolled by the Maritime Security Patrol Area, which was established in August by the coalition naval forces in the Gulf of Aden; provide a coastguard to be run by the UN or the African Union and establish a large naval presence in the area.

At least 60 ships have been attacked off the Somali coast since the beginning of 2008; four in the last week of August alone. Some 14 ships from various countries are estimated to be held around the coast of Puntland.
"It is the payment of massive ransoms that provides the motivation," Middleton said. "A few years ago ransoms were in the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. So far in 2008 they have hovered between half-a-million and $2 million, although recent reports indicate that demands have again shot up ..."

While pirates kept most of the funds, a significant amount was passed on to "important locals", some of whom were involved in the ongoing war in the country.

"Somalia is one of the most dangerous and violent places in the world," the paper stated. "Arms are freely available throughout the country and there are almost daily reports of explosions, murders, skirmishes, battles and kidnappings across the country."

Aware said they had mounted a campaign to combat the pirates. "Pressure has been brought to bear on them using traditional elders and religious leaders to condemn their activities," he said.

"This already is having a positive result. After intense pressure, pirates who were holding a number of ships in the coastal town of Eyl were forced to leave and are now on the seas.” Eyl is one of two towns in Puntland used by pirates as a base.

IRIN 

The UN refugee agency is pleased to announce the release of Hassan Mohammed Ali, head of UNHCR's office in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, after two months in captivity.

Ali, who is also known as Keynaan, is in good health and preparations are underway to reunite him with his family. He was abducted from his home near the Somali capital on June 21 by an unknown armed group.

UNHCR would like to thank all Somali organizations and members of civil society who organized demonstrations to call for his release. We are also grateful for all the expressions of public support and solidarity received during the difficult weeks of his captivity. UNHCR provided aid to displaced Somali civilians throughout this period and will continue to do so.

We extend our sympathies to aid workers who are still forcibly detained in Somalia. Abductions and attacks against humanitarian workers have increased over the past few months, jeopardizing the delivery of aid to vulnerable populations.

UNHCR

Drought, conflict, hyperinflation, high food and fuel prices, the weakness of the Somali shilling and a succession of poor harvests have increased the number of people needing food and other assistance to 2.6 million – up 40 percent from January.

At a news conference in Nairobi on 22 July, Mark Bowden, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, called the situation “fluid” and warned that “we are months before a major crisis” as the situation was likely to deteriorate further, potentially affecting 3.5 million, or half the total population.

Bowden said that “although this is a frightening figure to deal with”, it was the responsibility of the humanitarian community to provide assistance and seek ways to address the crisis.

Already, UN agencies and NGO partners of the Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) had revised upwards the financial requirements from the original US$406 million to $637 million, an increase of 53 percent, in their mid-year review. Financing the CAP would be a challenge as the global price rises had increased costs and affected donor governments’ budgets too.

In Somalia, the critical food and livelihood crisis, combined with price hikes, very poor rains in the southern and central parts of the country, violence and limited or no access to the affected populations, was further exacerbating the situation and severely restricting the ability of humanitarian organisations to deliver assistance.

At the press conference, Beatrice Spadacini, media and communications manager for CARE International, said access was the greatest challenge facing humanitarian organisations.

She said in many parts of the country, particularly the central and southern regions, aid workers were increasingly being targeted. At least 19 UN and NGO aid workers have been killed and 13 others abducted since the start of 2008 and 31 piracy cases reported, in addition to 82 looting incidents.

Per Engebak, the director for the UN Children's Fund in eastern and southern Africa, said on average, it took 47 days to cover 200km, bypassing 400 checkpoints to deliver assistance to the vulnerable population,.

Peter Smerdon, a senior public affairs officer for the UN World Food Programme (WFP), said: “WFP needs to double the amount of food it is bringing into Somalia to 32,000MT per month.” The agency was urgently appealing to governments to escort naval vessels to protect ships loaded with WFP food from piracy. At least 90 percent of all WFP food for Somalia arrives by sea.

Smerdon said the first unescorted ship loaded with WFP food was due to leave Mombasa on 22 July. Another ship had refused to load 12,000MT of cereals in South Africa without naval support, he added, and if this cargo did not leave South Africa soon for Mogadishu, one million people in Somalia would not receive cereals - the bulk of the food ration - in August.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Crop Prospects and Food Situation report released in July forecasts that the main Gu cereal crop, due for harvest from next month, is largely expected to fail as a result of a late start and poor rains in most parts of the country. According to the FAO’s Food Security Analysis Unit, if the Gu rains fail, the Somali shilling continues to fall, food prices continue to increase and civil insecurity worsens, potentially half the total population could face a humanitarian emergency or acute food and livelihoods crisis.

IRIN 

While security conditions continue to deteriorate particularly in the Southern parts of Somalia, UNICEF and partners completed the second round of distributing UNIMIX- food supplement rich with vitamins and minerals- to 54,000 under-five children in the IDP camps of Afgoye Corridor and Mogadishu. The blanket feeding scheme is part of UNICEF’s nutrition programme which addresses the alarming high malnutrition rates in the country.

UNICEF has scaled up its nutrition interventions to reach more children with quality services as the nutrition situation continues to deteriorate in the country. According to a new survey conducted by the FSAU (Food Security Analysis Unit in Somalia), it is estimated that nearly 180,000 children in Somalia are acutely malnourished, among which 25,000 are severely malnourished. This is an 11 per cent increase in the last 6 months with about 1 in 6 children being acutely malnourished and 1 in 40 being severely malnourished.

“So far we have been lucky to be strongly backed by our donors, however with the recent increase in malnutrition rates and the need for accelerated humanitarian assistance, more funds are required, for us to continue and expand our programmes effectively”, said Christian Balslev-Olesen, UNICEF Representative to Somalia.

The IDP concentration areas are one of the most vulnerable to factors causing malnutrition. The prolonged conflict and civil insecurity in Modagishu and its surrounding areas have led to the influx of displaced people into temporary settlements across the country. Afgoye hosts one of the biggest IDP settlements with a displaced population exceeding 300,000 people. Analyses indicate that the nutrition situation in Afgoye is critical, further complicated by the limited access due to the security situation.

This latest round of the UNIMIX distribution had expanded its coverage to include 3 IDP camps located inside Mogadishu- in addition to the original 221 IDP camps in Afgoye Corridor- targeting 54,000 children under five years of age in total. Jumbo Peace and Development Organization- a local NGO partnering with UNICEF- distributed 10 kg of UNIMIX for each child, with the support of local community elders and IDP camp leaders. In Jowhar, where 4 camps are located with an estimated 4,000 IDPs, UNICEF supports the daily distribution of cooked supplementary food targeting 600 under-five children.

Northern parts of Somalia are also hit hard by the deteriorating nutrition conditions, worsened by the skyrocketing food prices and the devaluation of the Somali Shilling. The urban poor and displaced population are the most vulnerable in the area, with thousands of families from the conflict affected South forced to seek temporary refuge in the Northern parts of the country. In Bossaso IDP camps, where about 28,000 people are located, global acute malnutrition rates have been recorded at 23.3 per cent. In Glakayo and Garowe IDP camps as well, very critical global acute malnutrition rates have been recorded.

Starting August and throughout the remainder of the year, UNICEF and partners will provide rations of UNIMIX (10 kg a month per child) to approximately 7,500 under-five children in Bossaso IDP camps, as well as to children in Garowe and Galkayo IDP camps, combined with a therapeutic feeding programme for severely malnourished children. The next round of UNIMIX distribution in Afgoye and Mogadishu camps is also scheduled in August.

About UNICEF
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

UNICEF 

Until a few months ago, Safia Jibril was able to feed, clothe and educate her nine children thanks to the US$100 that her husband's brother in the diaspora sent every month.

"Six months [ago] it was enough to provide my family's livelihood but today the price of one sack of rice has doubled," she said.

"Now if I buy one sack of rice and one of sugar, then I will not have flour, oil or anything to pay my children's school fees," she told IRIN in Gabiley village in the western suburbs of Hargeisa, capital of the self-declared republic of Somaliland.

"We are waiting Allah's mercy," Safia added. "I used to sell some charcoal in front of my house, but today I do not because I spent my capital on the family food [budget]."

Like many Somalilanders, Safia's family has been hit by inflation and high food prices that have especially hurt the livelihoods of the predominantly pastoralist population and created general food shortages.

According to local traders, a sack of rice used to cost $28 six months ago, but this has increased to above $52. The situation has been aggravated by the fact that Somaliland imports virtually all its food.

"We can no longer buy anything from the market because the price of foodstuffs has increased," said Fatouma Ahmed, a mother of five children who used to provide for her family by selling tomatoes near the State House.

Mohamoud J. Osman, an agro-pastoralist from Juffa, 11km north of the Ethiopia-Somaliland border town of Wajale, which lies to the west of Hargeisa, said he could no longer afford grass for his livestock.

"I have just returned from Mada-wein [village, south of Hargeisa]," he told IRIN. Used to feeding his animals on sorghum, he has had to stop because the price of the cereal has risen. "I sold one ox [so] I could buy grass for my other animals," he said.

Impact

Hargeisa District Court Chairman Abdirashid Bergel said economic difficulties have strained families. Since January, at least 242 families have broken up, compared to 117 over the whole of 2007.

According to Abdirashid, the break-ups have largely resulted from the current economic slump and rising prices of food.

Local traders said the situation has also impacted on business. In Burao market, for example, sales of livestock, which used to be a booming business, have slackened.

Farmers from Togdheer region, who mainly used to supply the livestock, have reduced deliveries because prices have fallen. Currently, a sheep sells for about $38 - less than a bag of rice.

Meanwhile, the government is attempting to calm nerves. "The high price of food is not only in Somaliland; it is a problem throughout the world," the commerce ministry said in a recent statement. "The government does not tax food items [because] it is too little compared to other [taxable] items."

The minister, Osman Qasim Qodah, said the government was urging Somalilanders to eat cheaper, local items instead of imported food.

The worst for Somalia is not over yet, however, according to forecasts by the US-funded Famine Early Warning System (Fews Net) and the UN Food and Agricultural Organization's Food Security Analysis Unit (FSAU).

The two organisations, in a June update, noted that the overall performance of the 2008 ‘gu’ rains in Somalia had been poor - although some pastoral areas in Juba and Gedo received good rains.

Areas like northern Bakool, Lower and Middle Shabelle regions, Hiran, and most of northeast, northwest, and central regions; in many cases received less than 40 percent of normal rain during April, May, and June.

"As a result of the below normal rains, crop germination and development has been poor in most of the key cropping areas, with some sorghum producing districts (including Saakow in Middle Juba and Bardhere in Gedo) experiencing crop failure," the update said.

On livestock, it noted that body conditions for cattle, sheep, and goats were poor throughout Somalia due to low rainfall in the ‘deyr’ 2007/08 season, followed by a very harsh ‘jilaal’ dry season (January to mid April 2008).

Milk availability and calving rates of camels in Sanaag, Togdheer, central and Bakool regions had also been affected. "In May, the total number of livestock exported through Bossaso and Berbera ports dropped significantly," it said.

Somaliland, which has an estimated population of 3.5 million, relies on livestock as the backbone of its economy. Government statistics show that 55 percent of the population is either nomadic or semi-nomadic - with 45 percent living in urban centres or rural towns.

In April, the governor of Somaliland's Togdheer region warned that extensive drought and high inflation had pushed many families, both nomadic and urban, to the brink of starvation. About 350,000 people live in Togdheer.

"People are suffering not only from the drought but also a very high level of inflation, putting food out of reach of the many," Jama Abdillahi told IRIN.

IRIN 

A number of people were killed and injured and hundreds of families displaced, after a night of heavy fighting in the southwestern town of Baidoa, the seat of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), witnesses told IRIN on 8 July.

"At around midnight [local time] last night the town came under attack from Al-Shabab [insurgents]. There was so much mortar fire around the presidential compound," said a local resident who requested anonymity.

The clashes were concentrated in and around parts of the town where government offices and Ethiopian army bases are located, said the eyewitness.

"They seemed to be targeting the area near the airport where Ethiopian troops have a base, and the presidential and parliamentary compounds."

The fighting displaced many previously displaced families, who had fled from the violence in Mogadishu and were living in camps near the presidential compound. "Many of them have left their camps and are now scattered around the town," the local eyewitness said.

The source said these families were some of the poorest and most vulnerable in Baidoa. "They were already in bad shape and this will only make their situation worse."

Shiino Moalim Nur, deputy governor of Bay Region, told IRIN the insurgent attacks added to the suffering of the displaced people. "All they achieve is to add to the suffering of the people."

The fighting subsided after a couple of hours. The insurgents withdrew, and the town is reported to be calm but tense on 8 July.

The insurgents have claimed on their website that the attack was “the first of many to come," said the source. Nur, however, said that the security forces were in control.

Baidoa under threat?

Baidoa, the seat of the TFG, was one of the few towns in the country totally under the control of the government and their Ethiopian allies, and therefore has been spared the violence that is a daily occurrence in the capital, Mogadishu.
The insurgents have in the past captured towns and later abandoned them, but last night’s attack may signal their ability to expand their area of operations, said a Somali observer. "It does not augur well for Baidao."

The deputy governor, however, dismissed suggestions that the insurgents pose a threat to Baidoa. "This was a propaganda attack. They don’t have the means to challenge the security forces here," he said.

A combination of conflict, drought and hyperinflation has combined to create a humanitarian crisis in the country. Aid workers estimate 2.6 million Somalis need assistance - a number that is expected to reach 3.5 million by the end of the year if the humanitarian situation does not improve, according to the UN.

IRIN 

Unidentified gunmen shot and killed the officer in charge of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) office in Mogadishu, on 6 July, according to UN officials.

Osman Ali Ahmed, 48, was on his way home after evening prayers with his eight-year-old son and a cousin, according to a friend who was also at the mosque.

"Three gunmen were waiting outside the Kashka Mosque in Bulo Hubey [south Mogadishu] and shot him at point blank range; his cousin was injured in the leg but his boy is fine."

He said Ahmed died as he was being rushed to hospital at about 7.40pm local time.

Abdi Haji Gobdon, the government spokesman, told IRIN the government condemned the "senseless murder".

"We condemn it in the strongest possible terms," he said. "The security agencies will do everything they can to track down the culprits and bring them to justice."

He said those carrying out the killings and kidnappings of aid workers "were people who wanted to see their fellow Somalis die. How can you target people who only want to help? What possible motive could they have in killing Osman [Ahmed]?"

Ahmed's murder is the latest in a spate of killings and abductions of aid and civil society workers in Mogadishu.

On 30 June, four aid workers with the charity Water For Life (WFL), were ambushed on the road linking Afgoye to Mogadishu.

On 21 June, the head of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Mogadishu, Hassan Mohamed Ali, better known as "Keynaan", was abducted from his home by unknown armed men. On 22 June, a peace activist was killed in Beletweyne town in Hiiraan region, central Somalia. Mohamed Hassan Kulmiye, who was working at the Centre for Research and Development (CRD), a local think-tank involved in peace initiatives, was shot by unidentified gunmen.

A few days earlier, an employee of CARE International, whose name the agency declined to reveal, was abducted near El-Dheer town in Galgadud region. He was the second CARE staff member to be abducted in six weeks.

A civil society source told IRIN recently: "It seems there is a concerted campaign against aid workers and civil society. We don't know who is behind it or why."

He added that there was "a level of fear never seen before among aid workers and civil society, forcing many to curtail their work or abandon it altogether.

"If this continues it will be impossible to find anyone willing to work for aid agencies, and that will only add to the suffering of the Somali people," he told IRIN on 7 July.

Aid workers estimate 2.6 million Somalis need assistance - a number that is expected to reach 3.5 million by year-end if the humanitarian situation does not improve, according to the UN.

UNDP condemned the targeted killing of Ahmed. In a statement the agency said that "Ahmed was a long-serving UNDP staff member who had dedicated his life to the betterment of his country. A highly professional and dedicated man, he will be sorely missed by all his colleagues at UNDP."

The agency added: "We extend our deepest and most sincere condolences to his wife and family."

Ahmed, who was buried on 7 July, leaves two widows and five children.

IRIN