DARA’s Humanitarian Response Index (HRI) team visited Nairobi from February 14 to 24 to collect information on donors’ response to humanitarian needs in Somalia. Heightened violence and insecurity has led to most humanitarian actors working in Somalia being based in Nairobi. The team interviewed representatives of donor governments, implementing agencies and NGO’s, and collected over 200 questionnaires for the 2010 HRI.

One of the salient findings of the mission highlights the consequences of the United States’ decision to include the Somali insurgent group al-Shabaab in its list of terrorist organizations, further impairing the already limited humanitarian access to those in need in al-Shabaab controlled areas.

US laws prohibit aid from reaching areas controlled by organizations it considers to engage in terrorism. As part of the global fight against terror, the State Department has withheld millions of dollars of much-needed humanitarian aid for Somalia this past year. As the main source of humanitarian aid funding in Somalia, the US has left an important funding gap that, according to HRI findings is seriously undermining humanitarian relief efforts there.

The World Food Program (WFP) recently halted food distribution in al-Shabaab territory due to security concerns, contributing to the deteriorating humanitarian situation. CARE International has also withdrawn their food aid operations from the area. Only the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) continues to distribute food in the region, but it has a limited caseload. Many aid workers have told HRI team members that it is impossible to work in these areas without negotiating with al-Shabaab commanders, and that the urgent needs of the population far outweigh US concerns over collaboration with terrorists.

“This is a text-book case of what happens when a major donor decides that political considerations outweigh humanitarian concerns,” said HRI team leader Albertien van der Veen. “The needs in Somalia are enormous, but the international response is totally inadequate. US anti-terrorism laws prohibit working in areas controlled by terrorists, and although humanitarian aid is usually exempt from these restrictions, it is not the case in Somalia. The US decision is having an enormous impact on humanitarian operations in the field and is preventing aid from reaching those most in need.”
[Click here to read full interview with HRI team leader Albertien van der Veen].

While much of the international donor community has remained silent on this matter, DARA welcomes the recent UN statement calling the US decision “a politicization of humanitarian issues.” UN Humanitarian Coordinator Mark Bowden also called on the international community to move away from a political agenda to a “more practical humanitarian agenda” and denied that UN agencies are paying money to al-Shabaab.

“Agencies and organizations on the ground are working in a very delicate situation, and we cannot ignore that millions of lives depend on this aid,” said HRI team leader van der Veen. “It is the duty of donor governments and implementing agencies to make sure that the aid reaches those who most need it. Donors must live up to their humanitarian obligations regardless of their political concerns.”

In 2009 Somalia was facing its worst humanitarian crisis in years, with millions of civilians caught up in an 18 year-old armed conflict that is causing increased levels of displacement, malnutrition and infant mortality. A generalized drought has also produced critical food shortages in the country.
[Click here to read the Somalia Humanitarian crisis fact sheet and the Somalia conflict timeline].

The international relief effort in Somalia is one of the most complex and dangerous in the world, but in spite of that, the HRI team has found that donors are not dedicating sufficient resources to the issue of protection – both for the civilian population, caught in the middle of the conflict, and for humanitarian workers, who risk their lives to provide life-saving relief. Donors have been reluctant to agree on a common advocacy approach to help humanitarian workers gain access to those populations most in need, often located in the most complicated areas of the country.

The HRI team is also concerned that donor governments are not funding capacity building and risk prevention initiatives in Somalia. “As is often the case, donors do not invest in long-term development programs, preferring to fund the more visible short-term emergency aid” added van der Veen.

“If some of the funds had been invested in drought prevention, we might not be facing such a critical food shortage now,” she concluded.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DONORS:

• Apply good donor practices, learning from other crises such as Pakistan and Afghanistan. DARA’s HRI 2009 crises reports on these countries offer analysis and recommendations that could be applied to Somalia.
• Invest in Somalia’s long-term solutions: prevention, risk reduction, recovery and development.
• Invest in capacity building and contingency planning of implementing agencies.
• Improve advocacy in order to enable humanitarian workers to operate wherever the needs are.
• Fully apply principles of impartiality and neutrality in humanitarian aid to Somalia.
• Separate political concerns from the humanitarian agenda.