Reuters Alertnet
Thursday, July 26, 2012
The humanitarian situation in Yemen and Somalia remains alarming and, if the humanitarian community does not take urgent action then we could see a repeat of the horrors of 2011. Problems must be solved in the home communities, even if access is difficult.
In Somalia, 2.3 million people remain reliant on food aid and urgently need support in their home communities. Greater coordination is needed between government, INGOs and NGOs, to ensure that aid gets through to where it is needed most. It is essential to improve humanitarian access in Somalia.
In Yemen, the humanitarian situation is deteriorating: 5m people suffer from malnutrition, 1 million of which are children. Addressing the humanitarian needs of all these families is vital to bringing stability back and avoiding further deterioration. Further instability in Yemen will impact the whole region. There is a vital need for urgent humanitarian response prioritizing life-saving measures with increased operational space for humanitarian and development actors.
A forward-looking, longer term strategy is also needed. The people in Yemen and Somalia need a greater voice and more needs to be done to build the capacity of local NGOs, who have access and ideas but need support.
We, the humanitarian community, commit to maintain and scale up our activities in order not to repeat the mistake of ‘too little too late'. Together, we need to take serious action to solve the matter.
ENDS
Notes for editors
The first Yemen meeting was held on 17 December 2011 in Cairo, in collaboration with Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and UN OCHA, with a conference taking place on 6th May 2012 in Cairo, in partnership with the League of Arab States and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
The Humanitarian Forum is a global network of key humanitarian and development organizations from Muslim donor and recipient countries, the West and the multilateral system. We improve the effectiveness and efficiency of aid by addressing identified gaps between humanitarian communities through training, dialogue and cooperation, working internationally and in partner countries like Indonesia, Libya and Yemen.
For more information, contact us directly at [email protected] or call our External Relations Manager, Khalid Al Mulad on +447926912449.