Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUnifeed
UN / SOMALIA
Download
There is no media available to download.
STORY: UN / SOMALIA
TRT: 2.50
SOURCE: UNTV/ WFP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 21 JULY 2010, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN building
21 JULY 2010, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, dais
3. Med shot, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Bowden, UN Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator for Somalia:
“Clearly, we are still facing an acute crisis in Somalia. One in five Somali children suffers from malnutrition and we have some of the highest rates of acute and severe malnutrition globally. Many families have lost their livestock, and it will make more than one good rainy season to make up for the losses that families have incurred. And we also have a crisis where 3.2 million people are relying on food assistance, which is more than forty percent of the population of Somalia.”
5. Med shot, journalist
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Bowden, UN Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator for Somalia:
“There is a large area of displacement called the Afgooye corridor, which has over 400 thousand displaced people, a population that is caught between inter-rebel fighting on the one hand and the conflict in Mogadishu itself, with nowhere really to find a secure environment.”
7. Med shot, journalists
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Bowden, UN Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator for Somalia:
“We have set up a group working between us with the specific intention to see how we can actively work towards a major reduction in civilian casualties, so moving beyond just reporting the issues to actually trying to find a way to ensure there is a clear strategy that provides far better safety and protection of civilians.”
9. Med shot, journalists
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Bowden, UN Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator for Somalia:
“TFG forces at the moment are vying with each other to be able to be able to protect humanitarian assistance. This is an issue of concern that we’ve raised with the TFG. I think that part of the solution to it will be better training and control of TFG forces, but clearly at the moment it remains an issue.”
11. Wide shot, dais
FILE – WFP - 23 JUNE 2008, EL BARDE, SOUTHERN SOMALIA
12. Wide shot, food distribution
13. Med shot, child
14. Tracking shot, man carrying bag
15. Close up, woman with bags of aid being loaded in the background
16. Med shot, man leading donkey cart
As Somalia remains in the grip of a humanitarian crisis, it is vital to ensure adequate funding to assist the 3.2 million people or more than 40 per cent of the population who rely on international aid, a senior United Nations (UN) aid official stressed today (21 July).
Mark Bowden, the UN Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator for Somalia told a news conference in New York that the situation in the Horn of Africa nation is characterized by severe child malnutrition and a loss of livestock and livelihoods, that will require “more than one good rainy season” to recuperate from.
The other major humanitarian concern is the ongoing displacement of people due to continued clashes between Government forces and Islamist militant groups.
Bowden said that the vast area known as the Afgooye corridor has over 400 thousand displaced people, “a population that is caught between inter-rebel fighting on the one hand and the conflict in Mogadishu itself, with nowhere really to find a secure environment.”
The conflict has led to Somalia being one of the countries with the highest number of uprooted people in the world. An estimated 1.4 million displaced within the country and almost 595,000 living as refugees in neighbouring countries. 20,000 people were displaced in the capital in June, and an estimated 200,000 people have been displaced from the city this year.
In addition, fighting in Mogadishu since March this year has led to more than 3,000 conflict-related casualties.
The Humanitarian Coordinator described ongoing efforts to reduce the impact of the conflict on the civilian population, including working together with African Union forces (AMISOM) “trying to find a way to ensure there is a clear strategy that provides far better safety and protection of civilians.”
According to the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), as Islamist insurgents battle it out with government troops backed by AMISOM in Somalia’s capital, civilians face continuous danger from above in the form of the mortar shells used by most parties to the conflict.
Bowden expressed concern about internal disputes within the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) forces “vying with each other to be able to be able to protect humanitarian assistance”. He said that “part of the solution to it will be better training and control of TFG forces, but clearly at the moment it remains an issue.”
Despite the ongoing crisis, Bowden pointed out some positive developments in the Horn of Africa nation.
Some major achievements include keeping the country free of polio amid a resurgence of the disease in a number of other African countries. This is thanks to the provision of clean water to 1.3 million people, as well as vaccination campaigns that were carried out, even in volatile areas.
UN agencies and their partners have so far received only 56 per cent of the $600 million needed to fund critical areas such as health, water and sanitation, nutrition and livelihood support in Somalia.
