SOMALIA: Fears for thousands as drought crisis deepens

THOUSANDS OF families living in some rural parts of Somalia are fleeing their homes to urban areas and displacement camps in search of food and water, as the drought situation continues to worsen.In Waajid, about 2,500 people (500 families) have arrived and set up makeshift structures at the periphery of the town, hoping for relief supplies, says international aid and development charity World Vision. Most of these families had to walk as many as 70 kilometres in temperatures of up to 40 degrees centigrade.

Nick Wasunna, World Vision emergency programme officer, says: “The rains are only one small part of the solution and with them other hazards are introduced especially as the herders and their livestock are physically weak and more susceptible to disease. The continued lack of longer-term investment in infrastructure, health care, agriculture and education means the problem will not disappear with the coming of the rains.”