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STORY: SOMALIA / DROUGHT DE CLERCQ
TRT: 02:45
SOURCE: UNSOM
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / SOMALI / NATS
DATELINE: 02 FEBRUARY 2017, HARGEISA SOMALILAND, GAROWE PUNTLAND- SOMALIA
02 FEBRUARY 2017, HARGEISA, SOMALILAND
1. Wide shot, dry fields
2. Med shot, building in village
3. Wide shot, Peter de Clercq, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (DSRSG) for Somalia meets the community members
4. Med shot, de Clercq meets the community members
5. Med shot, de Clercq and Dr. Sa’ad Ali Shire, the Somaliland Minister of Foreign Affairs
6. Wide shot, de Clercq meets the community members
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Peter De Clercq, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Somalia and UN Resident Humanitarian Coordinator:
“It is clear that we are on our way to a famine if very quick action is not being taken. Very large numbers of livestock have already died. The livestock that is still there is in very, very bad shape. We have just visited this village and none of the water sources that was there before, that was shared actually between people and animals is functioning at the moment. So people are completely depending on water being trucked into this village, and that is typical for many other villages as well throughout this region.”
8. Various shots, village
9. Various shots, some of the remaining livestock in the village
10. Wide shot, a woman grazes her goats in in the field
11. SOUNDBITE (Somali) Naja Ali Noor, Habaasweyne Resident:
“Getting water is our main problem; we cannot get even a drop of water here. We have to trek long distances to get water. There is no one point in the village where there is water. We appeal for water and other basic aid. There is no water reservoir in this area. This drought is the worst I have ever witnessed for five years. We waited for the rainy season but it never rained year after another.”
12. Various shots, de Clercq inspects a water catchment area
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Peter De Clercq, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Somalia and UN Resident Humanitarian Coordinator:
“This is the humanitarian response plan for $864 million for this year. Out of that money, $300 million is very urgently required in the first quarter of this year if we’re to avert disaster. And that money will be required to keep animals alive basically, to keep people’s livelihoods functioning. And if not within a few months, we’ll find ourselves in a real famine situation, just saving lives and being unable to retain people’s livelihoods. And in that case, it’s going to take much longer for people to come back to a normal way of living.”
02 FEBRUARY 2017, GAROWE, PUNTLAND:
14. Various shots, village
The Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Somalia, Peter de Clercq, on Thursday (02 Feb) completed a three-day fact-finding mission to Somaliland and Puntland in Somalia to highlight the devastating impact of the current drought.
De Clercq, who is also the United Nations Resident Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, saw first-hand the effects of drought induced by sparse rainfall, dwindling water resources and poor crop harvests in Somaliland and Puntland.
If swift action is not taken, he warned that Somalia will experience a famine in 2017. Somalia experienced a devastating famine in 2011, which killed over 250,000 people and ranks as the worst famine of the twenty-first century.
SOUNDBITE (English) Peter De Clercq, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Somalia and UN Resident Humanitarian Coordinator:
“It is clear that we are on our way to a famine if very quick action is not being taken. Very large numbers of livestock have already died. The livestock that is still there is in very, very bad shape. We have just visited this village and none of the water sources that was there before, that was shared actually between people and animals is functioning at the moment. So people are completely depending on water being trucked into this village, and that is typical for many other villages as well throughout this region.”
De Clercq visited rural areas of Somaliland. Residents of the village of Habaasweyne described the drought as the worst they had seen in three years.
SOUNDBITE (Somali) Naja Ali Noor, Habaasweyne Resident:
“Getting water is our main problem; we cannot get even a drop of water here. We have to trek long distances to get water. There is no one point in the village where there is water. We appeal for water and other basic aid. There is no water reservoir in this area. This drought is the worst I have ever witnessed for five years. We waited for the rainy season but it never rained year after another.”
According to the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, the number of Somalis in need of assistance has risen sharply in recent months, from an estimated five million in September 2016 to over 6.2 million today. The latter figure represents more than half of Somalia’s entire population.
SOUNDBITE (English) Peter De Clercq, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Somalia and UN Resident Humanitarian Coordinator:
“This is the humanitarian response plan for $864 million for this year. Out of that money, $300 million is very urgently required in the first quarter of this year if we’re to avert disaster. And that money will be required to keep animals alive basically, to keep people’s livelihoods functioning. And if not within a few months, we’ll find ourselves in a real famine situation, just saving lives and being unable to retain people’s livelihoods. And in that case, it’s going to take much longer for people to come back to a normal way of living.”
The number of Somalis facing “crisis” and “emergency” conditions has also soared, rising from 1.1 million six months ago to a projected 3 million between February and June of this year. The plight of children is particularly grave: an estimated 363,000 acutely malnourished children are in need of critical nutrition support, including over 71,000 severely malnourished children who require life-saving measures.
