The sad truth is it’s happening, like never before, well almost because it seems every other year around this time there’s news of people in the horn of Africa dying from lack of food and potable drinking water brought about by drought. The difference now is this one seems a whole lot bigger than we’ve seen or heard, if what the Aid agencies and the UN are saying is to be believed, that is.
Last week the UN officially declared famine in two regions in Somalia. That’s right. “Officially” declared? What that does that even mean? That the men and women and children who were fleeing their land because they couldn’t bare to see one more child die of hunger were only now being recognised? If that then the international body needs serious revamping. Sometimes it’s best to take the bull by the horn before it gets out of hand.
Too much talking and deliberating goes on when action is what is needed. Aid agencies in and around the region have been calling on the international community for urgent response to the crisis, but it seems for some reason the world is not as interested in Somalia like it used to be. The violence in the place does nothing to help, but it’s clear the violence isn’t going away any time soon, and as we spend time contemplating whether to work with or ignore the Islamist sect Al Shabab, people are dying, and will continue to die for what is a very preventable situation.
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