highest levels of malnutrition

NAIROBI, 2 February 2010 (IRIN) - Somalia has one of the highest levels of malnutrition in the world, with up to 240,000 children under five affected, according to an early warning report published on 1 February by the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit for Somalia (FAO/FSNAU) and FEWSNET.

The report comes as Mogadishu residents say the humanitarian situation has deteriorated.

"I honestly cannot remember when things have been so bad; it is as if all the negative things are coming together at one time," civil society activist Asha Sha'ur said. "If the situation - both security and humanitarian - does not improve soon, we will be looking at a far worse situation than Somalia has ever faced."

Ali Sheikh Yassin, deputy chairman of the Mogadishu-based Elman Human Rights Organization (EHRO), said many business people had fled the city due to increasing insecurity.

"These were the people who used to create jobs," he said.

"It was not much but it allowed many displaced poor people to supplement what little aid they got. Now that is not possible."

More than two-thirds of malnourished children were in south-central Somalia, the report said.

"Although we are seeing some positive indicators in terms of the lifting of the livestock export ban and improved crop and livestock production in southern parts... the food security and nutrition situation in central regions remains in crisis, where 70 percent of the population require assistance," said Grainne Moloney, FSNAU's interim chief technical adviser for Somalia.

(c) IRIN 2010

South and Central Somalia

a fragmented territory

The old Italian colony of Somalia has now fragmented into two core components - Puntland and the war zone of South and Central Somalia. It is in this area that large parts of the population experience very high levels of malnutrition and where violence continues to drive the population to other parts of Somalia (internally displaced people - IDP) or to fled to other countries, in particular to Kenya and across the Red Sea to Yemen.

Somalia is a territory in which a number of groups are violently competing for control of the resources of the country, and that the conflict at a local level is still fundamentally tribal, whereas foreign elements, and those Somalis allied to them, including the agents of states, often express their desire for influence and control by the use of ideological language, including support for and opposition to Islamic extremist philosophies.

A political solution to the many problems of Somalia will not be possible until the inhabitants of the former Italian colony of Somalia decide that they wish to renounce violent conflict, something which Somaliland (the former British colony) has already done. Given the strength of the competing parties, which are variously supported by agents from the United States, Ethiopia, France, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Kenya, in addition to criminal elements from Italy and elsewhere, and individuals espousing “terrorism”, and the current commitment of the United Nations, and other international bodies, to an imposed political solution, it is extremely unlikely that any lasting political solution for Somalia will be forthcoming in the near future.

Violence in the central Somalia

NAIROBI, 3 February 2010 (IRIN) - Violence in the central Somali region of Galgadud has made "it hard, if not impossible, for humanitarian workers" to reach those in need of help, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says.

"Many [displaced people] are reported to be sleeping in the open with dwindling shelter and little water," Roberta Russo, UNHCR Somalia spokeswoman, said on 3 February

"There are also growing concerns about the health of particularly vulnerable groups such as children, women and the elderly," she said.

Fighting between various groups in central Somalia and in Mogadishu escalated in January, displacing an estimated 80,000 people.

At least 29,000 fled Dusamareb in Galgadud, while 25,000 fled renewed clashes in Beled Weyne in Hiraan, UNHCR said. Both regions are in central Somalia.

In Mogadishu, where at least 18,000 have fled ongoing clashes, most of those affected had returned to the city, thinking it was more peaceful. However, on 31 January “parts of the city experienced some of the most intense shelling we have seen in a long time," said Ali Sheikh Yassin, deputy chairman of the Mogadishu-based Elman Human Rights Organization (EHRO).

(c) IRIN 2010