Sunday, August 21, 2011
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IRCS Secretary General Zaher Rostami told IRNA on Saturday that Iran has already sent three consignments of food supplies, weighing about 148 tons, to the famine-stricken country. He noted that the Iranian people have donated about $3 million to the relief campaign for Somalia so far, saying that the IRCS still needs much more help from the nation to help Somalia.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi is also scheduled to visit Somalia in the near future.
The United Nations has warned that more than 13 out of every 10,000 children aged less than five die in the Somalia famine zone every day.
"This means that 10 percent of children under five are dying every 11 weeks. These figures are truly heart-wrenching," UN representative to Somalia Augustine Mahiga told the UN Security Council last Wednesday.
The drought and famine have affected more than 11.8 million people across Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Somalia has been the hardest-hit country in what is being described as the worst drought in the Horn of Africa in 60 years.
According to the United Nations, it is estimated that a quarter of Somalia's population of 9.9 million are now either internally displaced or living outside the country as refugees.
The UN has declared famine in five regions in Somalia and said that the international humanitarian response to the crisis has been insufficient.
Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Source: PressTV