Recently, UN coordinator Mark Bowden said that the US government has asked the UN and a variety of NGOs to allow aid to Somalis based on conditions that seem practically impossible for the nation to meet. For example, the Food and Agricultural Organization is struggling to meet project expectations. The funding received so far to support the agro-pastoral communities in an acute food and livelihood crisis project has met only twenty two percent of its February 15th goals. Only $2,501,842 has been allotted, with $8,955,658 remaining unmet.
Somalia has also experienced a drastic decrease of its livestock population, resulting from last year’s drought. Additionally, the al-Shabab rebels, who control a great part of southern Somalia are said to have links with al-Qaeda. The United States’ donations to Somalia were cut in half last year. With the severity of last years drought and the possibility of al-Shabab’s links, a desperate situation in Somalia has emerged.
Read more al-Shabab at Al-Jazeera.net.
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