danishdemininggroup.dk: More humanitarian aid needed in Mogadishu

More humanitarian aid needed in Mogadishu

18.08.11

The humanitarian situation in Mogadishu is desperate. New displaced people arrive in the city every day, hoping to find food and water. Head of the Danish Refugee Council International department, Ann Mary Olsen, has just been to Mogadishu to establish how the Danish Refugee Council can do more for the people in need.

”I knew that the situation was desperate, but I don't think anybody can understand the full extend of the disaster, before actually being in the city,” says Ann Mary Olsen, head of the Danish Refugee Council, DRC. Ann Mary speaks with experience as she has been involved with international humanitarian aid for more than 20 years.

More than 100.000 displaced people have arrived in Mogadishu within the last couple of months. The war torn city represents their last hope of finding food, water and non-food aid. More displaced arrive every day bringing the total number of internally displaced trying to survive in the city to half a million. Those arriving in the city have been walking for weeks or months, loosing everything they own along the journey – even family members.

“I spoke to a woman who had arrived to Mogadishu just recently. She had lost two of her four children on the run. She was exhausted and apathetic, as she told me about the children she had lost, the long walk and the desperation she and her surviving children felt, when they arrived and didn’t find any help to begin with,” says Ann Mary Olsen.

The woman is no longer without help. She has become part of DRCs wet-feeding programme that feeds 100.000 people in Mogadishu every day. She has also received non-food items, making the life of the family bearable. DRC further provides clean water to the overcrowded camps.

“We make a difference – and we work hard to do more each day to help more people survive this crisis. Fortunately we have been working in Somalia for a long time, which makes it easier for us to boost our humanitarian efforts – with short notice,” says Ann Mary Olsen.

Cash relief is one of the new initiatives taken by the Danish Refugee Council. By donating a small amount of money to those in need, DRC makes it possible for them to buy food on the markets, enabling them to take care of themselves.

“The needs in Mogadishu are humongous already, and they will just grow until after the next rainy season – or longer if that one, like the previous two, will by without sufficient rain. Right now the people of Somalia are dependent on international aid,” says Ann Mary Olsen.

DRC has been working with Somalis and other displaced and conflict-affected populations in Somalia since 1998. As one of the largest international humanitarian organizations in Somalia and the Horn of Africa DRC is aiming at increasing relief efforts further and thereby reaching more people.

Back to: News