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Children and Families Face Increasing Hardships in the Horn of Africa
Westport, Conn. (January 22, 2007) — Save the Children is working to assist children in the Horn of Africa, where conflict is adding to the dangers faced by families uprooted by the worst flooding in the region in decades.
In Somalia, an estimated 75,000 people have been displaced since mid-December, when Ethiopia moved into the country to stop the spread of Islamic Courts Union. Because of the lack of security, children are unable to attend school and are increasingly vulnerable to being caught up in the conflict or separated from their families. Some 167,000 people in Somali refugee camps in Kenya have been affected by recent flooding, which also has increased hardships for an estimated 723,000 people across Kenya.
Relief experts on the scene say unusually heavy rains during the past two months have put up to 1.8 million children and family members at risk in parts of Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia. Save the Children is distributing lifesaving supplies to families in the region, including 42 tons of blankets, mosquito nets, water containers and plastic sheets for temporary shelter. Due to the increasing threats of Rift Valley Fever and malaria in Kenya, Save the Children has distributed 3,000 child hygiene kits and 3,000 mosquito nets in Wajir district.
The agency’s response is focusing on the more than 80,000 Somali people in the region surrounding Somalia’s Shabelle River. Save the Children is working to reach approximately 6,000 families there. The agency also is assessing the situation in Kenya’s Mandera district, where flooding forced the evacuation of some 2,000 people.
“Our top priority is to provide shelter and access to clean water to those children and families most in need,“ said Rudy Von Bernuth, who heads Save the Children USA’s emergency response effort. “Save the Children’s members worldwide recognize the severity of the crisis and are coordinating their collective relief efforts.”
Save the Children staff members in Belet Weyne, one of the worst affected areas, have already begun the distribution of relief items including plastic sheets, mosquito nets and blankets. Staff members have been working to repair the airstrip in the town after it was damaged by flood waters. Access to the town is very difficult as many roads have been swept away.
Working in a Fragile Region
In Somalia and throughout the Horn of Africa, the severe flooding represents the latest challenge for families in a region repeatedly afflicted by conflict, drought and flooding. Save the Children’s aid workers are warning that the floods are exacerbating an already precarious humanitarian situation, where political instability and the possibilities of widespread conflict continue to threaten communities. Children are already in a very vulnerable position, with levels of infant and maternal mortality among the highest in the world. The volatile environment increases the difficulty in providing a timely and substantive response.
Save the Children has suspended operations in the Hiran region of central Somalia, which was on the frontlines of the recent conflict. Programs will resume once the security situation stabilizes. The agency continues to work in Puntland and the Togdheer region of Somaliland, with a focus on emergency relief, education, basic health, food security and livelihoods.
Save the Children will continue to assess the situation in the region and will respond to the needs of children accordingly.
Read more about Save the Children's emergency response work around the world
