Much of Somalia's displaced population has scattered across rural villages, which are hard to reach because of rampant insecurity and limited resources, an international agency said, impeding aid delivery.
CARE International, which distributed some 900MT of food to 12,000 IDPs in the southern town of Beletweyne two weeks ago, said its staff had failed to access rural areas. Instead, they relied on local partner agencies to do assessments.
"The IDP population is mixed, with some households previously displaced from Mogadishu [the capital], and then there are [those] recently displaced out of Beletweyne town by fighting," CARE said.
Some of them were reportedly returning but others were moving farther away, as far as Tayeeglow district in Bakool region. Their situation was dire, according to local sources.
The difficulty of delivering food aid has affected other agencies too. On 31 July, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said a convoy of trucks carrying 1,500MT of food to the Hiiraan region had been delayed due to fighting between insurgents and Ethiopian-backed government troops around Beletweyne.
The trucks were headed for Bulo Burte and Jalalaqsi districts, in Hiiraan region. An estimated 37,000 IDPs are in the area.
A journalist based in Beletweyne, who requested anonymity, told IRIN the situation of IDPs in and around the town was deteriorating because food was in short supply.
"They have nothing to eat and fighting continues in parts of the region," the journalist said. "Children, especially, are facing malnutrition, diarrhoea, malaria; whenever someone approaches the IDP camps, the children quickly gather around you thinking you might have some food for them."
Binto Adde Dahir, a mother of five, one of whom died of hunger a few days ago, said the children were at serious risk of starvation. "They have not eaten in days, I don't know what to do, we need food urgently," she said.
 Children, especially, are facing malnutrition, diarrhoea, malaria; whenever someone approaches the IDP camps, the children quickly gather around you thinking you might have some food for them |
"Food supplies are urgently needed in Somalia but deteriorating security has made delivery difficult by land and sea," said Peter Gordon MacKay, Minister for National Defence. "Canada is stepping up to the plate by tasking Ville de Québec with the role of escorting World Food Programme ships to ensure their safe arrival at designated ports."
According to WFP, there were a total of 31 incidents off Somalia in 2007, "the worst year on record for Somali piracy". So far this year, pirates have launched 24 attacks.
Since a naval escort system began last November, frigates from France, Denmark and the Netherlands have provided escorts for WFP ships and proved an effective deterrent against pirates.
According to UN estimates, at least 2.4 million Somalis rely on food aid, 80 percent of which arrives by sea. Instability and insecurity have dogged Somalia for almost 20 years, but prevailing drought and increasing world food prices have worsened the situation.
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
