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In a camp near Mogadishu’s international airport, there is no getting away from the human cost of the Somalian famine declared six months ago this week.
Korsan camp was meant to be a place of refuge for tens of thousands of people drawn to the capital when their crops and livestock were wiped out by the country’s worst drought for half a century.
It also became a burial site for dozens of children simply too weak to overcome severe malnutrition and disease.
“I was sick and my baby died because he was born sick,” says 28-year-old mother Aisha Barsane Mohamed (pictured above). “Now he is buried in this camp.”
Aisha came to Mogadishu with her husband and three children to escape Lower Shabelle, one of the regions worst affected by the famine. Heavily pregnant when she arrived, she gave birth to a tiny boy who lived for just two weeks. He had not even been given a name when he died.
Six months on, the rest of the family are a lot healthier because of regular food distributions by Islamic Relief – a member of the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee.
With generous support from the British public, we have provided life-saving food, water and medical aid to over half a million Somalis since July, in territory held by both the Transitional Federal Government and armed opposition groups. We have also played a part in mobilising support for the relief effort from leading Muslim countries, in partnership with the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation.
Things may now be improving for many Somalis but big questions still need to be asked about the international response to this crisis.
Why were donor governments so slow to respond to stark warnings of a food crisis issued by the UN and aid agencies back in 2010? Why has the international community neglected assisting some of the areas of Somalia in greatest need? And why is there still not enough funding for people to return home and rebuild their lives instead of languishing in camps like Korsan?
Next month, Prime Minister David Cameron is hosting a major international conference on Somalia in London. Political and security issues will be the main focus, and tackling the twin threats of terrorism and piracy is sure to be high on the agenda.
There is a real danger, however, that important discussions about the country’s humanitarian needs will be sidelined if political and security concerns come too much to the fore. There is also a risk of the conflict in Somalia escalating, further restricting access for aid agencies and preventing people from returning home.
The UK Government deserves credit for its response to last year’s UN appeal for Somalia, to which it was one of the largest contributors.
That response came too late for the boy with no name in Korsan camp, but it is not too late for Mr Cameron to ensure that the international community invests as much energy in addressing Somalia’s massive humanitarian challenges as it is doing in tackling the political and security agenda..
Meeting humanitarian needs is vital in the short term, with 250,000 Somalis still at imminent risk of starvation. But ultimately it may also hold the key to the longer-term peace, stability and prosperity that Somalia so desperately needs.
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