From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Date: 13 Oct 92 14:51 PDT
Subject: SOMALIA: U.N. pushing for step-up i
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700628:000:4461
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Oct 13 14:51:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: SOMALIA: U.N. pushing for step-up i

/* Written 12:07 am  Oct 13, 1992 by newsdesk@igc.apc.org in igc:ips.englibrary */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: SOMALIA: U.N. pushing for step-up in aid

new york, oct 10 (ips) -- the united nations and its agencies are
attempting to boost assistance to somalia by launching another
appeal ''to breathe new life energy'' into international relief
efforts for the african country, james baker, director of the u.n.
special emergency programmes said here this week.

baker told ips the relief effort, to be known as the '100-day
programme', will be presented for approval oct. 12-13 in geneva to
international charity bodies, non-governmental organisations
(ngos) and to countries willing to donate relief aid to somalia.

the '100-day programme' is so called to give the initiative a
timeframe and to put pressure on the international community to
move faster.

''people are dying; it is time for us to do more'' said baker,
who noted that the plan is a continuation of the united nations'
consolidated inter-agency appeal, first launched in jan. 1992 in
response to the intense humanitarian crisis in the horn of africa.

launching that appeal, u.n. secretary-general boutros boutros-
ghali said that 621 million dollars was needed to provide
humanitarian assistance from feb. 1 to july 1992. some 576 million
dollars was pledged in response to the appeal.

however, in july, u.n. under-secretary-general for humanitarian
affairs jan eliasson said that the actual deliveries had been slow
and that response to non-food aid requirements had been
disappointing.

an renewed consolidated inter-agency appeal was then launched,
with the united nations asking for a further 117 million dollars
for somalia. the requests in that plan were based on the
assessments of a u.n. team which had visited the country in may.

referring to these appeals, baker said ''the trick is to keep
up (the relief aid) to finish the job''.

this money was expected to have lasted til the end of the year,
but already, more is needed.  according to baker, somalia needs an
estimated 60,000 tonnes of food a month.

despite the fact that u.n. agencies have been present in
somalia since apr. 1991 and that food aid has arrived, the famine
there is spreading. the united nations and international agencies
are struggling to fight back starvation. but as baker said, it is
a case of ''the further back you let it slip, the harder it is to
keep up with it''. (more/ips)

somalia: u.n. pushing for step-up in aid(2-e)

somalia: u.n. (2)

problems of aid distribution within somalia have been two-fold:
the lack of security as well as access have hindered food from
reaching destinations. in early september, the united nations
reported that only half the food it had dispatched to the country
this year ever reached those most in need.

the charity organisation 'care' estimates that 20 to 30 percent
of village-bound food convoys get attacked.

but access has reportedly improved and now areas in central
somalia are reachable for relief workers, which means more aid
will be needed, said baker.

the u.n. security council has promised 3,500 troops for
somalia, and baker thinks this fact will help encourage more
donations. a 500-strong pakistani contingent arrived in the
capital sep. 29, with the task of protecting convoys and
distributing food. the troops are to be deployed in four areas:
north-west, north-east, central and southern areas.

''often food distibution will increase instablity,'' baker
said. ''people fight over the food, but if we bring enough in,
hopefully that contributes to the overall political solutions
needed''.

''supply is not a constraint now, but i think there will be
supply problems before the end of the year.'' said baker.

the first warning of a famine disaster in somalia which has
been exacerbated by war and drought came last december. the
situation became more bleak when the ruler of 21 years, siad
barre, was overthrown and the counrty was left with no leader.

mogadishu then became the battlefield between two warlords,
notably mohamed farah aidid and mohamed ali mahdi.

only in april did internatinal relief aid begin arriving. the
latest red cross estimation is that 1.5 million somali face
starvation. (end/ips/nl/yjc/92)