Drought- affected people in the Horn of Africa; the International community and World Citizens; Intergovernmental Authority of Development; African Union, United Nations, UN Political office for Somalia, Civil Society office of UN, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, League of Arab States, World Interfaith, Muslim and World League.
by Amina Sharif Hassan
Thursday, November 03, 2011
Introduction
This letter offers my perspective on the tragic situation in Somalia today. Beginning with a brief description of the crisis, the letter then looks at the historical response to drought and other disasters in Somalia, and examines the effects of the long-running war in the country. It ends with suggestions on how to deal with the situation and a plea to the people of the world to respond to this human catastrophe.
The Current Situation
A major disaster is occurring in Somalia. On September 05, 2011, the UN warned that 750, 000 people are at risk of dying as a result of the drought and famine currently occurring in that country. In August 2011, in a presentation to a US congressional Committee dealing with foreign aid, government official, Nancy Lindborg, reported estimates that more than 29,000 children under the age of 5 had died in Southern Somalia in the previous 90 days[1].
There is a huge exodus of starving people, walking for days to get bread or water. The mortality rate is high, especially in the elderly, infants and children, and malnutrition and dehydration in adults is also increasing. The situation requires a sophisticated emergency health intervention.
The Deyr season, a second major rainy season started in October, 05, 2011, but because the drought-affected people were in emergency camps, far away from their farms, it was impossible for them to cultivate their land. This means they will lose an entire planting season even though the rain is plentiful. The next season is the Jilaal, the dry season which typically starts in December and continues until March. This means that even if drought survivors manage to return to their farms, they may not be able to sow their crop till March 2012, harvesting it around June 2012. It is thus likely that large numbers of people will have to remain in the camps, dependent on aid.
Background Information
Drought is not a new situation in Somalia, but historically it did not lead to disaster. The people of Somalia had traditional ways to deal with drought. If drought occurred in dry land regions of southern Somalia, males from the region travelled to the riverine and city areas to do seasonal work, bringing their families to join them if the drought was prolonged. When the rains returned, the men would go back to cultivate their farms. That was how they maintained their families for centuries and they never left their land for good. The host region’s people and this influx of people exchanged service and trade benefits, and understood, supported and respected each other. There were both exchanges of work for money and voluntary help from the host regions. The values and practices of helping and hosting all kinds of people when they were in a crisis reflected both the Somali habit and Islamic law.
The effect of the war
As a result of the prolonged war, the people in the South are experiencing extreme poverty and lack of social services, and can no longer support each other in this way. Wars in Somaliastarted in the central regions in the late 1970s, spreading to the North during the mid 80s and to the South in 1991.
Southern Somalia has become a battlefield between the ousted regime and later militias from different Somali tribes, and other non indigenous international and regional stakeholders. The 21-year conflict has become increasingly anarchic and reckless, resulting in displacement of people, man-made human disasters and emergency situations. It has also torn apart the traditional Somali social cultures and norms.
Most of the Somali people are suffering war trauma related problems including:
Poverty and induced starvation
Forced migration
Lack of self determination
Food used to induce exiles from their homeland
Dependency on foreign aid.
Large numbers of people have become internal refugees, driven away from their farms and prevented from producing agricultural products and other local goods and services. They have become dependent on foreign aid.
What is needed?
Both the Somali government and the international community need to strategize ways to take advantage of the Deyr rainy season to cultivate the deserted land and transport its people back to continue their lives independently.
Develop and modernize indigenous food security systems for the people in Somalia and the region.
All stake holders must rethink building emergency camps far away from the disaster area. Emergency programs must be closer to home.
A final plea
I would like to urge the good citizens of the world to take action to help this human catastrophe. And I also urge the suffering people themselves to look for opportunities. It is a fact that there are opportunities and lessons to learn from each and every disaster. There is always hope, and a light will shine somewhere in the tunnel that will guide us to peace and prosperity.
I urge the world to humanize globalization. We need to harmonize business, interests and human well- being.
God bless the World with peace Insha’ Allah. Amen.
Amina Sharif Hassan
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