By IANS/WAM,
Mogadishu : The UAE Saturday launched first phase of an urgent massive humanitarian programme to assist victims of drought in the Horn of Africa, especially Somalia
The UAE relief team is made up of the Red Crescent Authority and Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Charity Foundation.
The team stated the first phase would target camps housing tens of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) located around the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
From Mogadishu downtown, the team ran a convoy of food aid to Bidbadu camp, some six km from the capital, and doled out rice, edible oil, sorghum and dates.
The UAE aid workers also toured the camp to assess urgent needs of the IDPs so as to be met as soon as possible through successive convoys.
The UAE relief agencies will run daily aid convoy to a number of camps in the Somali capital.
Mohamud Ahmed Nor Tarsan, the governor of Mogadishu, who escorted the UAE relief team during the tour, said there were 55 camps in the capital housing around 350,000 displaced persons.