By IINA,
Nairobi : As the holy fasting month of Ramadan is knocking the doors, the United Nations has appealed to Muslim countries to help feed thousands of hungry Somalis in war-stricken Horn of Africa state. “We’re about to start Ramadan month in few days and what I would like to see (is) the Muslim countries (stepping) in and help the United Nations, the humanitarian agencies and the international NGOs to help the Somalis,” said UN Humanitarian Envoy Abdul Aziz Arrubkan. “I appeal to the international community and the Muslim countries in the region and elsewhere not to forget about the basic need for food for millions of Somalis,” AFP reported quoting him as saying.
Ongoing fighting and acute food shortfalls spurred by prolonged drought and hyperinflation have left millions of Somalis without sufficient food. According to a study by the Food Security Analysis Unit this week, the number of Somalis needing aid had leapt 77 percent since January to more than 3.2 million, more than a third of the population. Somalia has been ravaged by violence since the Ethiopian army invaded Somalia at the request of the weak interim government to oust the Islamic Courts, which briefly ruled large parts of Somalia in 2006. A deadly vicious cycle of violence has since claimed more than 6,000 lives and displaced thousands. Most philanthropists, who used to organize iftar (fast breaking) banquets and provide food packages for the underprivileged, have fled the violence-wrecked nation.
Ramadan, the ninth month on the Islamic lunar calendar, will fall this year in September. During Ramadan, adult Muslims, save the sick and those traveling, abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex between dawn and sunset. It’s customary for wealthy Muslims and charities to organize iftar banquets of the have-nots during the holy month. The UN also warned that the humanitarian mission in the war-torn Horn of Africa nation is badly under-funded. “We are talking about an operation that needs money,” said Mark Bowden, the UN Humanitarian Relief Coordinator for Somalia. “We are on a shoe-string budget, the high cost of security is worsened by the high need to provide air services.” The UN had appealed for $700 million to enable it finance various livelihood enhancement projects in Somalia.
But the appeal fell on the donors’ deaf ear, leaving the UN only able to get just $3 million of the money it sought for its operations. Bowden said that even those meager aid pledges have not translated into action on the ground.
“Currently, we are getting only 1% of the money we asked for in our emergency appeal,” he said. The UN official warned that indication show that the humanitarian crisis would continue to worsen over the coming months. “Currently, humanitarian access is insufficient to meet the growing humanitarian needs and humanitarian agencies are struggling to maintain a presence.”