UN says Somalia problems most complex emergencies in the world.
Somalia remains one of the largest and most complex emergencies in the world of humanitarian aid programmes, said the country’s United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator Philippe Lazzarini.
While updating the Member States and partners on the state of humanitarian and development situation in the war-torn country in New York, Lazzarini said Somalia posed a “multi-faceted” challenges that is different to that posed by other country of similar situations.
“We are dealing with a country putting things together again. We have a post-conflict situation but we also have a conflict existing. We have military operations but we also have different stages of recovery and development,” Mr Lazzarini told the member states.
Relief delivery and distribution is dangerous, he said, adding that the UN staff in the country faced a real threat from many areas and groups affiliated to different political factions in the volatile country. He noted the killing of four UN staffs late last month in Garowe, Puntland after an explosives went off in their van.
On food security: “Somalia is susceptible to natural disasters and food insecurity,” he said. “I cannot assure whether the harvest will be sufficient.”
Economically, Lazzario said the country was in a hard situation following the closure of money-remittance service in the country due to terrorism. He said that at least 40% of Somali population depends on hawala service, and money sent from abroad accounted for between $ 1.3 and $1.5 billion of annual gross domestic products (GDP), a value that is twice the international humanitarian effort.
Mr. Lazzerini similarly updated the Member States of the achievements his team was able to reach. He said they contained a polio outbreak in the country after a large number of cases were reported. The UN vaccinated over 4 million Somalis in the fight against polio outbreak.
He assured: “While the country is not polio-free, we do not have any reported case since August 2014.”
In the health sector, Mr Lazzario said he noted drop in malaria prevalence that saw it drop from 20% to less than two percent. He also underscored the successes of vaccination campaign on animals that kick-started the export of livestock to other countries, mostly to the Middle-East that generated a profit to the tune of $350 for Somali farmers.
He called on the international community to do more than just supply of aid programs, saying humanitarian assistance is a band aid that allows only to keep people alive.
“Let us address the root cause of the problems in Somalia,” he urged.
