The African Union has ordered its peacekeepers to provide security to humanitarian workers due to the deteriorating security situation in the war torn country.
Map of Somalia
“The chairperson of the commission (Jean Ping) has directed the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to continue doing everything in its powers to provide security for humanitarian personnel in Mogadishu, in order to facilitate access to those in need of food and other relief items,” the AU Commission said on Tuesday.
AMISOM is currently supporting Somalia’s transitional federal government (TFG) in stabilising the Horn of African country which has been without a central government for the past 20 years.
About 5,500 Ugandan and Burundi peacekeepers, deployed since late 2007, are serving in Somalia.
AMISOM was already providing limited humanitarian assistance, including medical care and water, to local communities in Mogadishu.
The peacekeepers are also in charge of security at both the seaport and the airport to ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian relief.
Ping has also requested the AU High Representative for Somalia, former President of Ghana Jerry John Rawlings, to intensify efforts aimed at sensitising African countries on the crisis.
Rawlings is also expected to mobilise both financial and moral support. He will soon travel to Mogadishu to assess the situation on the ground and make further recommendations on the best way forward.
On Tuesday, the Commission and the AU Sub Committee on Refugees and Displaced Persons met in Addis Ababa to review the situation and identify additional steps in support of the relief efforts in Somalia, in particular, and the Horn of Africa.
According to humanitarian agencies, about 2.85 million Somalis, are in need of humanitarian assistance because of a drought that has been described as the worst in recent history.
Thousands of Somalis are moving into major urban areas, in particular Mogadishu, as well as to neighbouring countries.
According to the UN, 5,200 people moved into Mogadishu last month alone.
Between the end of June and early July, 4,800 Somalis were registered at the Dadaab refugee camps in eastern Kenya, while an average of 1,000 people were received daily at the Doolow Ado camp in Ethiopia.
In June alone, a total of 54,000 Somalis crossed into Ethiopia and Kenya, a three‐fold increase compared to those who arrived in May.
It is estimated that 554,000 children were suffering from malnutrition in the first half of 2011.
The drought is affecting a number of other countries in East Africa.
The affected population increased from about 6.3 million in 2010 to more than 10 million this month.
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