DEC Chief Executive Brendan Gormley writes about his recent visit to East Africa to view the situation in the Dadaab refugee camp. He travelled with UK Secretary of State for International Aid Andrew Mitchell and the head of Save the Children Justin Forsyth.As you fly over this arid, dry and dusty land the vast expanse of tented shelters sprawling across the horizon immediately captures your attention.
There are almost 400,000 people - a number equivalent to the entire population of Bristol - residing in these settlements. On the drive towards the camps of Dabaab you see many new arrivals huddled beneath flimsy makeshift shelters.
It is a tragic sight to behold and a symbol of the painful reality that hundreds of thousands of refugees have had to survive in such harsh conditions.
Medics and aid workers are now coping with a huge influx of people who have travelled from the epicentres of the drought and walked for days in desperate search of food.
Alongside these harrowing scenes there are reassuring sights of babies who now have every chance of surviving this catastrophe. But then you notice the sore, blistered feet of the mothers and grandmothers who have trekked for miles to find food and shelter for these infants.
When some of these babies are returned to their families they face a considerable risk of relapsing. The scale of needs means that families are sharing what they have and the most vulnerable suffer when there is not enough food to feed all the family.
Many have travelled from south and central Somalia from regions devastated by drought. The irony of this situation is these survivors are the lucky ones. Those they have left behind are at greater risk.
I was in Somalia in 1992, the last time a famine was declared. All the indicators are that the conditions which I saw and never ever wanted to see again have returned. Charities who have been working in Somalia since the famine of 1992 have not received the support they need and deserve. Their cries for additional help to reach the millions at risk have not been heard.
There is an urgent need to reach the epicentres of this unfolding tragedy. I have come away convinced of the need to warn the international community that this humanitarian emergency must be taken seriously and welcome the UN’s authoritative statement on the famine.
Many of the people arriving in Dabaab are from Somalia’s most productive farming areas. Areas that should be the last line of defence against drought But now the situation is so severe that even these resilient farmers have taken to the road in search of food and water. If farmers, who have exploited these flood plains for generations are on the move, this is a terrible sign of the consequences of this disaster.
As I travelled through Wajir in north-eastern Kenya, it became clear that the needs of many villages in this region are just as acute those in Dadaab. In addition to getting life-saving aid into southern and central Somalia, we need a massive parallel expansion of relief in northern Kenya.
I was incredibly moved to see the dedication of Kenyan nurses in the nutrition centres in Dadaab and Wajir. These nurses and their international colleagues were for keen for us to tell the story of this tragic, unfolding crisis to rally the world’s compassion.
Brendan Gormley
Chief Executive
Chief Executive
DEC
Comments
brendan from DEC
Posted at 02.14 pm on 03/10/11
The majority of the more than 444,000 people in the Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya have indeed been there for many years and left Somalia mainly because of the ongoing conflict. They are amongst the 13 million people across the region who now need food support because so many sources of food and income have failed as the result of the drought and/or conflict. When you say three quarters of the people in the camps are 'not starving' I presume you mean not yet suffering acute malnutrition, which is running at about 25% in the camps? If so, it is worth noting that the emergency threshold for Global Acute Malnutrition is 15% and even at that level if is common to undertake general foods distributions because the aim it not just to stop people starving but to prevent them from getting to that point.
Anonymous
Posted at 11.16 am on 03/10/11
One stark fact remains above all others, since famine was declared in Somalia. The vast majority of people in this massive camp of 440,000 people are not here because of this year’s drought.
Three out of four people receiving food aid are not starving. They survive by planting cash crops like coffee, jojoba oil and tobacco to survive. Many of them have been in the camp for more than a decade - some even two. They are victims trapped in this cut-off part of the world, not due to hunger but because the country they once called home is dysfunctional, not to add in a state of diplomatic nightmares.
brendan from DEC
Posted at 03.03 pm on 27/09/11
It is, as you rightly say, complex. The land is arid and there are regular droughts but with a little support people can be self sufficient there. The main barrier to this happening is the ongoing conflict and lack of effective government which is also the source of so much lawlessness. This is bad for rest of the world but way, way worse for ordinary people in Somalia who are just trying to survive. As always, the DEC uses the money people give to deliver aid through trusted aid agencies and their partners to make sure that aid reaches those for whom it is intended.
Anonymous
Posted at 12.17 pm on 27/09/11
Such a complex issue, but my understanding of Somalia is that it's been torn apart by civil war for 30 years, it is full of pirates, jojoba oil plantations and Islamic Al Qaida and a land that cannot sustain life long term, as the famines every ten years testify. THEREFORE... are we (the West) doing more harm than good by giving aid that encourages them to stay in a land that's dying, and on a political level, why do we want to make healthy millions of people who's intolerant interpretation of Islam wants 'us' dead? Most of the money goes to corrupt officials who will buy arms to continue their civil war anway, and the same famine will happen to the children of the people we help in ten years time. So what is the point of donations? Beyond making compassionate Westerners feel 'good' for ten minutes as they tuck into another guilty obese feast?
Can we seperate facts from human life?
Anonymous
Posted at 01.27 am on 04/08/11
plse help i am sure you wil not regret , i remember surviving on food hand out from aid agencies while i was in as refugee cam ,today i am in the uk i wil suport and may i ask you kindly to gve.
Anonymous
Posted at 11.45 pm on 03/08/11
Donation please, at least we can save from our small expenses if we want so lets dont be careless we all are human beings and we have to fell our brothers and sisters situation...
Anonymous
Posted at 10.37 pm on 02/08/11
I would like to thank the DEC for their efforts in rasining funds for this disaster. I would not like to think of the consequences on the front line, if such an organisation/body did not exist to raise funds and work hand in hand for the charities.
Anonymous
Posted at 11.09 am on 02/08/11
Our hearts go out to these brothers and sisters. Thank God for the generousity of donors, the unstinting efforts of aid workers and for government's donations, some of which have been stingy.
All MUST DO MORE and also look at long term solutions. Lets not turn our faces away! Keep on giving and praying
Anonymous
Posted at 05.54 pm on 01/08/11
It is heartbreaking to see how little they have. Perhaps these images could move all the bankers, newspaper barons, police chiefs, politicians, footballers, rich listers and all of us who indulge in greed to see where we could really make some difference.
Anonymous
Posted at 03.56 pm on 01/08/11
WHY DO WE ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN ITS NOT RIGHT IN THIS DAY AND AGE
Anonymous
Posted at 04.12 am on 01/08/11
We all need to form helping hands together and pray for those innocent lives
Anonymous
Posted at 05.48 pm on 31/07/11
will be constantly praying and a donation on it's way!!! what about the rest of you, we all need to help[!!!
Anonymous
Posted at 08.20 pm on 28/07/11
What a tragic world we live in .....
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