From: barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us (Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS: SOMALIA: NGOs tell EC to forget the
Originator: barnhart@gagme
Organization: Gagme Public Access UNIX, Chicago, Illinois.
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1992 22:38:29 GMT

Reference: Europe, western
Title: SOMALIA: NGOs tell EC to forget the red tape and send the aid


brussels, aug 18 (ips/debra percival) -- cut out all the
bureaucratic red tape and send in the food aid, is the message
being sent to the european community by non-governmental
organisations (ngos) seeking urgent assistance for an estimated
1.5 million somalians.

that's how ngo officials responded tuesday to an ec official
statement to ips that the community has the money in the bank for
a larger response for famine relief to somalia, but is simply
lacking official requests from the ngos.

but the ngos argue that the ec is fully aware of the urgent
needs of the somalians, and the constant cries of the ngos for
logistical support to deliver food aid.

don redding a spokesperson for london-based 'save the children'
ngo acknowledged that the ec has provided food aid when called
upon before, but these ''bits and bobs'' for which applications
have to be made through cumbersome official channels sometimes
arrive late, he said.

''sometimes we have been left with a two week gap to fill,
whilst waiting for the ec pledge to arrive,'' he added. ''what we
have seen so far is a certain willingness of governments to find
relief and materials, but so far there has been few wider ranging
efforts.''

in a letter sent this week to linda chalker, the current
president of the ec development council, save the children's
secretary general nicolas hinton, urged the ec to pull out all
stops to match the united states big aid effort of 145,000 tonnes
of foodstuffs, announced last friday.

''it would be disappointing in the extreme if the ec did not
respond with significantly increased pledges of its own,'' the
letter stated.

in the letter, save the children, which has been working on
field over the last 19 months, also drew attention to the lack of
coordination in famine relief in the east african nation. ngos can
handle some food aid, but also need the logistical support such as
planes and other forms of transport for distribution, it said.

the ngo now wants the ec to show ''vision and courage'' and to
back the up the efforts of the united states and united nations
aid programmes. what is needed now says the ngo, is a ''flood of
food aid''.

irish foreign minister david andrews, who visited somalia last
week, agrees with the food aid flooding plan which he said would
put an end to the hijacking of food by rebel forces; and he has
written a letter to ec commission president jacques delors to that
effect.(more/ips)

somalia: ngos tell ec to forget the red tape and send the aid(2-e)

somalia: ngos (2)

the save the children letter also says the ec has got its
priorities wrong by placing emphasis on security. last week, the
european community promised further food aid once the 500 united
nations armed guards were in place to protect food convoys.

''the majority in somalia are fighting over food. there is no
civil war any more,'' said redding. a civil war has been raging in
somalia for over a year now, and the food shortages is adding fuel
to the already volatile situation.

but even after u.n. approval last week of the dispatch of blue
helmets, there are still no signs of any brussels centred ec
coordination. one ec official said this is because the community
depended on all 12 member states to organise the logistical side
of the dispatch of aid.

and, the official noted, that at the moment the 12 member
states seem to prefer waving their national flags in organising
their own airlifts.

''everybody thinks that the ec is the king of the world and
should do something, but we do not have the planes to send the
food aid, nor the personnel on the spot,'' the ec official said.

in the ec's defence, the official said that since the start of
1991, the community has provided 43 million tonnes of food aid to
somalia (50 million dollars worth) and 20 million ecus (28 million
dollars) of non-humanitarian aid.

the international committee of the red cross (icrc) which has
been carrying out 85-90 percent of the famine relief programmes in
somalia has received much of this food aid for distribution.

but more support is needed, said a spokesperson for the geneva-
based organisation, who added that ''logistical and financial
resources'' were running dry. he said icrc was in constant contact
with brussels' bureaucrats.

last month, the icrc distributed 22,000 tonnes of food to the
african country, but icrc representatives stress that between
35,000-40,000 tonnes of food per month are still needed to save an
estimated one million people from starvation.

''if they (the ec) don't know where to send food aid, they can
send it to us,'' said an icrc spokesperson in geneva, mocking the
ec's red tape.

the icrc official suggested that above all the ec could play a
very useful role either on its own or in coordination with the
united states, by getting a lot more involved on the logistical
side. and redding agrees: ''from our experience, the worst times
in mogadishu were when there was a lack of coordination.''
(end/ips/pr/dp/cpg/92)



-- 
Aaron (Barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us) -- posting from Evanston, Illinois