As many as 1,000 people every day cross from Somalia into Ethiopia at Dolo, which sits on the Ethiopia-Somalia border near Kenya, fleeing drought and conflict. This family walked 110km to reach the border, a five day journey. On the day this photo was taken, the family planned to spend the night camped under an acacia tree and enter Ethiopia the next day. PICTURE: Laurie MacGregor/ACT Alliance

25th July, 2011

ALISTAIR GEE

The Ancient Egyptians referred to part of Somalia as Ta netjer, “God’s land”. At the time it was a thriving area, leading regional trade, including being the major producer of myrrh. Somalia today is a very different place.

A grandmother and child in the village of Borbor in southern Ethiopia. PICTURE: Henrik Stubkjaer/ACT Alliance "Much more needs to be done and we desperately need your help to do it. This is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world and if ever there was an important time to give, this is it."

A famine was declared in southern Somalia on 20th July and 10 million people in the region are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. The drought over the past few years has affected people across the whole Horn of Africa, which includes Kenya and Ethiopia. Many Kenyans and Ethiopians are in urgent need of assistance, and Act for Peace’s partners are at work there providing food packages and distributing water. They are easier to reach and more able to cope than the war-torn communities of Somalia which have, arguably, suffered more than any other country.

There has been civil war and no central government in Somalia since 1991. The lack of centralised control, combined with widespread insecurity and a thriving illicit arms trade has led to protracted periods of fighting and widespread use of small arms. This war has displaced 20 per cent of the entire population and made it the least peaceful country on earth according to the Global Peace Index.

Al-Shabaab, a group aligned with al-Qaeda, controls much of southern Somalia and until recently refused to allow international humanitarian assistance. Last month alone, 55,000 Somalis fled across the borders into Ethiopia and Kenya.

One aid worker from the south of Somalia, working with one of Act for Peace’s partner organisations, describes a situation under which people are becoming increasingly desperate now that their crops have dried out and died, and animals are now dying in large numbers.

“This is a disastrous famine, which knocks on everyone’s door,” he says. People are walking for more than a week to reach safety in border camps, and being forced to make the painful decision to leave weak and disabled ones behind.

While there have been past United Nations missions to Somalia (which included the Black Hawk Down battle in Mogadishu in 1993) and there is an African Union mission in Somalia, there is much more that we all need to do to assist the people of Somalia to survive and in time return to their former peacefulness and prosperity.

Act for Peace is working with long-term partners in Somalia in providing both humanitarian assistance to those in greatest need and disarmament of those with weapons.

Our partners hope to provide life saving humanitarian assistance to over 200,000 famine affected people in the Gedo region and to those who have fled to Mogadishu. They will also increase support for refugees in Dadaab camp, on the Kenya–Somalia border. This assistance includes food, shelter, clothing, hygiene, water, sanitation and psychosocial support in the crisis phase. The post-crisis phase will consist of livelihood recovery, restocking livestock and income generating activities.

Our partners working on disarmament in Somalia have destroyed over 70 tons of unexploded bombs, guns and ammunition. They have also been providing safety training to displaced communities.

Much more needs to be done and we desperately need your help to do it. This is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world and if ever there was an important time to give, this is it.

As God’s people, let’s help God’s land.

Alistair Gee is executive director of Act for Peace, the international aid agency of the National Council of Churches in Australia.

To give to Act for Peace’s Horn of Africa emergency appeal, please visit www.actforpeace.org.au or free call 1800 025 101.