Somalia (April 1995)

The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Peter Hansen, said on 3 March that UN agencies and international NGOs would be staying on in Somalia, despite the withdrawal of the final 12,000 military personnel remaining in the country. The termination of the UN military mission comes at a time of good harvest, but fighting could mean that food will become as scarce over the coming months as it was two years ago.

The UN appealed for US$70.3 million for emergency relief and rehabilitation for the next six months. WFP is to supply more food aid to Somalia during 1995 – although the August 1994 harvest was very encouraging, reaching an average 90% percent of pre-war levels.

While much more food is available in Somalia than during the previous three years, many people are still without jobs or sufficient income to feed their families. 600,000 people are estimated to require humanitarian assistance in 1995. The WFP has stated that it will need 115,270 tonnes of foodstuffs for its aid programmes in Somalia in 1995; it has already secured 49,000 tonnes of these requirements from pledges and stock carried over from 1994.