UN pleads for £185m in aid as Somalia once again faces famine

FAMINE has been declared in two regions of southern Somalia by the United Nations, marking it as the worst humanitarian disaster to hit the Horn of Africa in 27 years.

An estimated 3.7 million people across war-torn Somalia - almost half its population - are now in danger, including 2.8m in the south.

In the worst-affected areas, half the children are already suffering from malnutrition.

Since January, almost 135,000 Somalis have fled, mainly to neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia. An average of 3,000 people flee Somalia each day.

Mark Bowden, humanitarian co-ordinator for Somalia, said southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle provinces had been hardest hit by the worst famine in the Horn of Africa for two decades.

The UN is proposing "exceptional measures" of providing "cash relief" while it finds ways of getting larger volumes of aid into southern Somalia, he said.

However, there has been criticism of the world's response.

The UK, which has led European efforts with 91 million in aid, has described other countries' efforts as "derisory".

The UN is appealing for 185m in emergency aid over the next two months for Somalia.

"If we don't act now, famine will spread to all eight regions of southern Somalia within two months, due to poor harvests and infectious disease outbreaks," Mr Bowden said.

"Every day of delay in assistance is literally a matter of life or death for children and their families in the famine-affected areas.

"It is likely that tens of thousands will already have died, the majority of those being children."

Somalia's plight has been exacerbated by its own instability and conditions in neighbouring countries.

Years of drought, that have also affected Kenya and Ethiopia, have hit harvests and conflict has made it extremely difficult for aid agencies to operate and access communities in the south of the country.

The south is controlled by al-Shabaab Islamist insurgents, affiliated to al-Qaeda, who are fighting to topple the western-backed government. The group also controls parts of the capital, Mogadishu, and central Somalia.In early July, the rebels lifted a ban on food aid which they previously said created dependency.However, some analysts say they are allowing aid in because they fear a public backlash if they do not, while others say the rebels want bribes.

The UN has said the inability of food agencies to work in the region since early 2010 because of the ban had contributed to the crisis.

"If cash is made available, that will enable the market to continue to function," said Luca Alinovi, head of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation in Somalia.

The UN defines famine as at least 20 per cent of households facing extreme food shortages, a crude mortality rate of more than two people per 10,000 per day and malnutrition rates of above 30 per cent.

Development secretary Andrew Mitchell condemned the "derisory" response by some countries to the crisis in Somalia yesterday after a state of famine was officially declared.

Mr Mitchell said Britain was "playing its part" by supplying aid to the Horn of Africa and "others must do the same".

Tens of thousands of people have died in the country due to malnutrition amid the worst drought for over half a century.

"In Somalia, men, women and children are dying of starvation," Mr Mitchell said.

"The fact that a famine has been declared shows just how grave the situation has become."