The President Must Address Life and Death Policy Matters in Somalia
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Date:
August 1, 2011
There are conflicting reports coming out of southern Somalia about al-Shabab lifting its ban on outside aid to millions of civilians trapped in its territory. At least one UN official says discussions with the designated terrorist group about permitting the safe distribution of food rations are “taking place.” Another report says al-Shabab is maintaining its ban and calls talk of famine to be western “propaganda.” From yet another source, reports indicate emergency food distribution in the region has been ongoing for “the last few months.”
What is clear, however, is that the UN declared a famine in southern Somalia on July 20 saying nearly half of the country’s population of 10 million needs urgent aid. The term is commonly used during a crisis like this, but is not officially declared until acute malnutrition rates among children exceed 30 percent and more than two people per every 10,000 die per day. The UN estimates that in the two regions of southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle where al-Shabab operates, at least tens of thousands of Somalis, the majority of them children, have already died as a result of causes related to malnutrition. What else is clear is that the humanitarian imperative of delivering food to millions of people in Southern Somalia will not be met if counterterrorism policy prevents assistance from reaching them. Under U.S. law, humanitarian groups risk prosecution for interacting with members of a designated terrorist group like al-Shabab, although such contacts are necessary to deliver aid to civilians trapped in territory they control. Since the application of the laws in 2009, U.S. aid to Somalia has dropped by 88 percent, from $237 million in 2008 to $20 million in 2011. This includes the U.S. government’s suspension of funding to the UN World Food Program in December 2009 when the UN estimated 3.2 million people were in need. Good harvests in 2010 off-set the immediate impact of the loss of food aid, but by early 2011 the levels of malnutrition had spiked and increasingly numbers of families from Somalia began seeking refuge in Kenya.
“Avoiding aid diversion is important, but the U.S.’s overzealous approach led to a damaging collapse in U.S. humanitarian support to Somalia,” says Jeremy Konyndyk, policy director with Mercy Corps.
What else is clear? The effects of these laws do not just complicate logistical aid delivery operations during an emergency response, but directly affect the lives of millions of people. President Ronald Reagan let food aid into Ethiopia during the famine of the 1980s. President Obama should do the same today for starving Somalis.
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