Access to Drought-Stricken Somalia May be Easing (NEWS BRIEF)

Famine-affected families in Somalia. CREDIT: United Nations(HN, August 10, 2011 - UPDATED 2350GMT) After years of enduring violence and blockages to vulnerable women and children in Somalia, aid agencies may be on the brink of fresh access to parts of Somalia - including the capital, Mogadishu - for the first time in years.

According to published reports, the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab (حركة الشباب المجاهدين‎), which controls many parts of the capital and rural areas, has been retreating from some neighborhoods that they have controlled for years.

The withdrawal is seen as the most significant gain for the UN-backed Transitional Federal Government, however some analysts suggest the Al-Shabaab retreat may be temporary and perhaps even a dangerous provocation.

In an indication of improved access into Somalia, the UN said Tuesday that they were able to dispatch more aid to the country.

In a UN news briefing in Geneva monitored by HUMNEWS, Elisabeth Byrs, of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that 2,000 tons of humanitarian assistance has been dispatched to Somalia in July by air, boat or road. The humanitarian programmes are currently being stepped up to avoid further victims but security conditions and access persisted as major challenges for most humanitarian partners.

That was also a sentiment echoed by a spokesperson for the UN's Food and Agriculture Orginization (FAO).

A Somali woman holds her severely malnourished baby outside a medical clinic established by the African Union Mission in Somalia's peace keeping operation. CREDIT: FAOLuca Alinovi of FAO Somalia and Kenya, said that the situation was is yet stabilized, and that there is a very real possibility of a worsening in South Central Somalia because the level of support in the country is extremely low in the context of a severe drought and a complex emergency. The situation has been particularly worsening in the last two seasons and has grown more serious due to internal factors, such as the conflict, and external factors, such as increasing food prices.

Aid agencies say about 600,000 children are on the brink of starvation.

"The reason it's hitting its children hardest is because they're the weakest when they go without food or water. They simply cannot go for all of those weeks," said WFP chief Josette Sheeran.

International super model Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid ( يمان محمد عبد المجيد‎)), who was born in Somalia, said Tuesday that the international community, including wealthy Arab countries, need to step up to the plate and donate more funds. Speaking on CNN's AC360, she voiced fears that an entire generation could be wiped out.

"This will be remembered as a catastrophe that has destroyed a generation of children..I want people to understand that this is a catastrophe that was preventable but that it is salvageable," said Iman.

Another prominent celebrity of Somali decent, Keinan Abdi Warsame (also known as K'naan), said he feared his home country's tarnished reputation as a haven for Islamist rebels, piracy and black hole of hopelessness does not turn people off from helping. "People have created a psychological fence where around their hearts where Somalia is concerned..we have to find a way to get past that and look at the humanity of what is happening."

Also on AC360, the Irish singer, musician and humanitarian Bono voiced disbelief that a catastrophe impacting as many as 12 million people in four countries wasn't receiving more prominence. "It is shocking, it is disgusting..it's hard to believe that this is the 21st century. We mustn't let the complexity of the situation absolve us from responsibility to act."

Bono articulated what many heads of UN agencies and relief agencies fear: that with competing headlines at the moment - including the tumbling stock market - the famine may not garner the prominence that it deserves. "I think about our own sense of values tumbling...This will define who we are, this is a defining moment for us, and there's lots to distract us.

"This is outrageous, it can't be happening and it must be stopped."

Indeed, despite high profile coverage of the humanitarian disaster, including the presence of prominent western journalists in the region and the involvement in celebrities, funding is still a problem.

Byrs said the $2.4 billion general appeal for the Horn of Africa is now only 46 per cent funded, with $ 1.1 billion received and $ 1.3 billion still needed. With regards to Somalia, food operations are funded to 57 per cent, water and sanitation to 35 per cent, nutrition to 45 per cent, health to 26 per cent and livelihoods to 18 per cent.

Some agencies are severely under-funded for this high-profile emergency, which impacts as many as 12 million people in several countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on donors for $29 million to respond to the health aspects of the situation in the Horn of Africa. So far, only $ 6 million has been received, said Tarek Jasarevic of WHO.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is said to be set to run out of funds for the Horn of Africa emergency within weeks if more resources are not received soon.

FAO says it will host a high-level operational meeting on August 18 in Rome to agree on urgent measures in response to the worsening crisis in the Horn of Africa. It come on the heels of an Emergency Ministerial-level Meeting on the Horn of Africa held in Rome on July 25 and sets the scene for a pledging conference called by the African Union in Addis Ababa on August 25.