Saltar al contenido principal

Somalia humanitarian crisis 30 Dec 2007

Países
Somalia
Fuentes
M-USA
Fecha de publicación

Mercy-USA for Aid and Development is urgently appealing for your support to fund life-saving food aid to thousands of Somali children and their families left homeless by renewed fighting in the capital Mogadishu. Whole neighborhoods in the city are now empty, the ruins of buildings and shattered lives lie everywhere.

Three weeks of clashes in Mogadishu have displaced over 150,000 additional people, according to the United Nations, worsening the humanitarian crisis that has ravaged the country for 16 years.

Somalia, a country that suffers from endemic poverty and has endured cycles of severe drought, catastrophic flooding and political instability, is now facing an acute humanitarian emergency caused by continued armed conflict. The United Nations estimates that approximately 2 million children and adults living in Somalia are seriously affected by this deteriorating humanitarian situation.

A recent United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) study found that child malnutrition in Somalia is at critical levels due to violence and lack of access for aid workers. In the study, UNICEF states that 83,000 children in the central and southern parts of the country are suffering from malnutrition and 13,500 of those are severely malnourished and at risk of dying.

"Such critical levels in a region known as the country's breadbasket are alarming and point to a deteriorating humanitarian situation," the agency said in a statement. "UNICEF is very concerned that their numbers might increase with continued civil strife, limited humanitarian access to these areas, food insecurity and a depressed economy."

Mercy-USA's Response

Mercy-USA for Aid and Development is distributing food packages containing 35 pounds of Sorghum (an important staple in Africa) and 4 liters of cooking oil to families displaced from Mogadishu.

- $100 will feed 10 families.

- $500 will feed 50 families.

- $1,000 will feed 100 families.

- $2,500 will feed 250 families.

- $5,000 will feed 500 families.

Mercy-USA is also carrying out the following life-saving programs :

- Seven supplemental feeding centers in Jilib District (southern Somalia) and the Hiraan Region (south-central part of the country) that , from January to October 2007, have examined and treated approximately 4,790 malnourished children. These children and their families also received take home food rations provided by UNICEF and WFP.

- Nutrition support and health services for children, pregnant women and nursing mothers.

- Emergency and supplemental food rations for children and vulnerable families.

- Prevention of disease through immunization against measles and vitamin A distribution.

- Prevention of malaria through the distribution of over 6,600 insecticide-treated bed nets since January 2007.

- Provision of safe drinking water through chlorinating water sources, rehabbing and repairing existing wells, and digging new ones. Since January 2007, thirteen water wells have also been cleaned.

Please Help!

Please help us to feed malnourished children in Somalia and their families. You may send your contribution immediately through the secure online donation form or mail it to:

In the US:

Mercy-USA for Aid and Development
Attn: Somalia Relief
44450 Pinetree Drive, Suite 201
Plymouth, Michigan 48170-3869

In Canada:

Mercy USA for Aid and Development (Canada)
Attn: Somalia Relief
Fiesta RPO, PO Box 56102, 102 HWY # 8
Stoney Creek, ON L8G 5C9

If you have any questions or wish to donate over the telephone, you may call us at 1-800-55-MERCY (1-800-556-3729) or (734) 454-0011. Donations are tax deductible (US Federal Tax ID No. 38-2846307 and Canada Revenue Agency Business No. 89458 5553 RR0001).

Thank you for helping to ease the pain of the children of Somalia and their families.

PS Many companies will match the donations of their employees. Please ask your company if it has such a matching gift program.

PPS Dedicated to alleviating human suffering and supporting individuals and their communities in their efforts to become more self-sufficient, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development has had offices and programs in Somalia since 1993. M-USA is also a registered PVO (Private Voluntary Organization) with the United States Agency for International Development

(USAID), has special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and is a member of the American Council for Voluntary International Action (InterAction).

Additional Background Information on Somalia

The severe fighting has compounded what was already one of the most difficult humanitarian situations in the world. After 16 years of armed conflict, tens of thousands of families are internally displaced in a country that lacks basic health services and infrastructure.

Somalia has one of the highest child and maternal mortality rates in the world. One in eight children dies before reaching the age of five and 1,600 women die for every 100,000 live births. Other social indicators for children are also among the worst in the world: one in three children is chronically malnourished, hardly a third of families have access to clean drinking water, just 30 per cent of children go to school and on average people only live to the age of 47, according to UNICEF.