Somalia: International charities issue appeals to help drought victims

GAROWE, Puntland- International aid organizations have recently expressed concerns to the worsening humanitarian situation in regions of Puntland state amid persistent drought conditions in Somalia, Garowe Online reports.

During an interview with Radio Garowe (RG) on Monday, a senior official for Save the Children- a UK based charity- Abdiqafar Elmi Hanage, has discussed about recent field trip to the drought-stricken areas, and noted that close to 10,000 nomadic families have migrated to Puntland.

Hanage said many pastoralists families have moved from far regions and from neighboring states in search for pasture and water in Karkar region, after relatively short rainfalls last December.  

He said low rains has left thousands of people living in remote areas in the region without enough food, water and proper shelter at risk of humanitarian crisis.

Our organization has already launched an aid response and provided water and food to help affected families and dispatched a medical team to assist remote communities, he added.

Asked about the emergency plan to tackle the persistent drought conditions, he stated that Save the Children will continue to provide support to vulnerable communities and urged Puntland government, citizens and International organizations operating in Puntland to intervene to avert the humanitarian situation across the region.

The drought has caused shortages of water and pasture, leading to the death of livestock a lifeline for pastoralists communities in the region.

GAROWEONLINE