Monday, August 15, 2011
THEN
On August 15, 1992, in response to a severe famine devastating Somalia—resulting from drought and an ongoing civil war—the United States launches Operation Provide Relief (OPR), with the backing of the United Nations. The United States deploys 10 C-130 aircraft and 400 people to Kenya to airlift 48,000 tons of food and medical supplies to humanitarian aid organizations stationed inside remote areas of Somalia. At the time of the operation, nearly 500,000 people die due to starvation and approximately 3 million people are starving. In addition, an estimated 1.5 million Somalis are displaced, as a result of the famine. Despite the large-scale efforts of OPR, the mission is considered a failure due to the U.N.’s inability to directly deliver the aid to the starving population. Significant portions of the aid are looted by armed Somalis, loyal to regional warlords. Warlords, Ali Mahdi and Mohammed Farah Aidid, use violence to loot the food supplies in order to strengthen their influence on the devastated people of Somalia. Four months later, the United States launches Operation Restore Hope—a military mission in Somalia involving a coalition of 25,000 troops with the objective of rapidly securing trade routes in Somalia so that food-aid can reach the people.
NOW
On Saturday, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, was in Mogadishu, Somalia, calling attention to the area’s accute humanitarian crisis. Due to the famine and ongoing conflicts in the region, an estimated 3.2 million Somalis are on the brink of starvation. Similar to the situation in the early 1990s, the security of humanitarian efforts, and the threat of aid being intercepted in Somalia is a tremendous challenge. Ms. Amos said in a statement, “We can save the lives of these children, if we can treat them early enough. But we also need to get aid to areas outside Mogadishu, where most of the people in desperate need reside.” In other reports, the charitable organization Save the Children reported a significant increase in the number of Somali children being abandoned by their parents, out of desperation. Prasant Naik, Save the Children’s Kenya country director, said in a statement, “We can only imagine the levels of desperation driving these parents to abandon tiny babies in this way. After walking from Somalia without food and water, it is clear that some parents feel that they cannot care for their children any more, despite having reached help.”
