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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is on a visit to Somalia amidst tight security measures. On arrival, he was received by the country’s Foreign Minister Abshir Omar Huruse. This is reported to be an unannounced visit of the UN Secretary-General
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is on a visit to Somalia amidst tight security measures. On arrival, he was received by the country’s Foreign Minister Abshir Omar Huruse. This is reported to be an unannounced visit of the UN Secretary-General.
Somalia is in the grip of a disastrous drought that has pushed many to the brink of starvation. At the same time, the government is engaged in a major offensive to counter a bloody Islamist insurgency. Recently, the UN appealed to international donors to contribute US$2.6 billion in humanitarian aid for the troubled Horn of Africa country, which is facing severe climatic conditions. Five consecutive failed rainy seasons in the Horn of Africa region have pushed more than 1.7 million people into abject poverty. The severe consecutive droughts have led to heavy damage to livestock and crops.
The situation in Somalia is grave. More than half of the population needs humanitarian assistance this year. It is estimated that 8.3 million people are affected by the drought. Importantly, in March this year, floods caused by the seasonal rains killed 21 people and displaced more than 100,000. Severe famine hit the country in 2011 that killed 260,000 people. Children under the age of six were most affected and contributed more than half of the deaths. The international community did not respond quickly enough to the devastating development. This year also experts point out that the death toll will be high if appropriate measures are not taken in time, warns multilateral organizations. The visit of the UN secretary-general is mainly to avoid a repeat of the 2011 situation.
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Somalia, to add to its woes, has also been ravaged by decades of civil war, political violence, and a bloody insurgency by a jihadist group affiliated with al-Qaeda, known as the Shebab. The government sources claim that in late March more than 3,000 Shebab fighters had been killed in the counter-offensive measure. The visit of the UN Secretary-General to Somalia assumes importance in this regard.
