STORY: DSRSG De Clercq assesses the

humanitarian crisis in Somalias South West state

TRT: 5:04
SOURCE: UNSOM PUBLIC INFORMATION
RESTRICTIONS: This media asset is free for
editorial broadcast, print, online and radio use. It
is not to be sold on and is restricted for other
purposes. All enquiries to
thenewsroom@auunist.org
CREDIT REQUIRED: UNSOM PUBLIC
INFORMATION
LANGUAGE: SOMALI/ENGLISH/NATURAL SOUND
DATELINE: 16/01/2017, BAIDOA, SOMALIA
SHOT LIST.
1. Wide shot of Peter De Clercq, the deputy Special
Representative of the UN Secretary General for Somalia with several
UN officials on arrival at Baidoa airfield.
2. Medium shot of Peter De Clercq, the deputy Special
Representative of the UN Secretary General for Somalia being
received by officials from South West state administration.
3. Medium shot of Peter De Clercq, the deputy Special
Representative of the UN Secretary General for Somalia at an IDP
camp.
4. Wide shot of make shift home at the refugee camp.
5. Medium shot of Peter De Clercq, the deputy Special
Representative of the UN Secretary General for Somalia chatting with
internally displaced persons at the camp.
6. Medium shot of Peter De Clercq, the deputy Special
Representative of the UN Secretary General for Somalia chatting with
Quresha Abdi Ali, one of the internally displaced persons in the camp.
7. SOUNDBITE: (SOMALI) QURESHA ABDI ALI - INTERNALLY
DISPLACED PERSON.
I came from Buula Iir village to escape the harsh conditions
there. We dont have food, water, and clothes. Our farms are
barren, our livestock are dead, and our men cannot find any work
to do. I lost my son because I couldnt find any food or water to
give him, now another one is also in hospital. I also lost 12
members of my family. We are in so much despair; this morning,
we did not cook anything because I have nothing to feed my
children. They are here crying. We urgently need food, water and
medicine.
8. Medium shot of a woman with her children near their makeshift
home at the camp.
9. Close up shot of a child in a makeshift shelter in the camp.
10. Medium shot of Peter De Clercq, the deputy Special
Representative of the UN Secretary General for Somalia chatting with
an internally displaced woman living in the camp.

11. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): PETER DE CLERCQ - DEPUTY

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF
THE UNITED NATIONS FOR SOMALIA.
We have a very serious drought situation at the moment in
Somalia, infact five million people in this country which is more
than forty percent of the population are currently in need of food
aid because they don't have enough to eat so this is a result of the
fourth consecutive drought season. We did not have enough rains
so it is going to take, as we know, another four months before we
have another rainy season and that's going to be very difficult
period for people like this and we will see more and more people
arriving in this kind of camps so they need assistance to help
them throughout this season and then hopefully also it going to
be assistance for them to restart their lives and that is going to be
much more difficult; this is just humanitarian aid, it is short term
aid - but in the long term these people need to get their livelihood
again.
12. Wide shot of make shift home at the camp.
13. Medium shot of several children looking on.
14. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH): RASHID ABDULAHI MOHAMED THE GOVERNOR OF BAY REGION.
We have visited the site where there are new arrivals of the IDPs
as a result of the drought in the region which has resulted to two
consecutive rain failures in the region. So this has led to
displacement particularly the new displacement that has arrived
in the region and so far, we are thinking about the number of the
people that has arrived, an estimate of about three thousand
families, are coming from the neighbouring villages surrounding
Baidoa and the districts within the region. So we see the situation
is there, people are in need and we request anyone that can step
in to support the needy population.
15. Wide shot of Peter De Clercq, the deputy Special
Representative of the UN Secretary General for Somalia with several
UN officials entering into a medical tent.
16. Medium shot of a healthy worker treating a sick child.
17. Medium shot of Peter De Clercq, the deputy Special
Representative of the UN Secretary General for Somalia consoling a
sick child in the camp.
18. Medium shot of a mother holding her sick child.
19. Medium shot of three sick children laying on a medical bed.
20. SOUNDBITE: (SOMALI): SHARIF HASSAN SHEIKH ADAN INTERIM SOUTH WEST ADMINISTRATION (ISWA) PRESIDENT.
We have visited the IDPs in the camps as well as the hospital. We
are in an emergency situation. The effects of the drought is
evident, people are struggling with poor health, starvation and
insecurity. Despite the drought, Alshabaab has paralyzed
movement and this makes it difficult for people to receive
humanitarian aid. We appeal to the international community in

partnership with the Somali government to facilitate the opening

and securing of Main Supply Routes especially the 243 kms
Baidoa-Mogadishu road, to allow passage of humanitarian
supplies. This will help alleviate the effects of this drought

STORY
Deputy SRSG de Clercq assesses humanitarian crisis in Somalias
South West state
Baidoa, 16 January 2016 - The Deputy Special Representative of the
UN Secretary-General for Somalia Peter de Clercq heard first-hand
accounts of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in South West
state today during an assessment tour of the administrative capital of
Baidoa.
Mr. de Clercq visited a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs)
and the citys main hospital to meet with victims of a prolonged dry
spell that has produced severe water shortages and acute food
insecurity.
An estimated five million Somalis are in need of food aid after sparse
rains triggered drought in much of the country. In South West state
alone, nearly 820,000 people are in dire need of urgent humanitarian
support, according to a newly released report from the UN Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Five million people in this country, which is 40 per cent of the
population, are currently in need of food aid because they dont have
enough to eat, said Mr. de Clercq.
This is as a result of the fourth consecutive drought season, and it is
going to take another four months before the next rainy season, he
added.
He expressed concern that more people may abandon their homes for
IDP camps in the state capital in their search of food.
The people need assistance to help them through the season and
then hope there is going to be assistance for them to restart their lives.
That is going to be much more difficult because this is humanitarian
aid, short-term aid, but in the long term, people need to get a livelihood
again, he stated.
Children, women and IDPs have been hardest hit by the humanitarian
crisis. The situation in Baidoa has been exacerbated by an outbreak of
cholera, which has claimed 11 lives in the past three weeks alone.

Quresha Abdi Ali, a mother of seven, told Mr. de Clercq and members
of his delegation that she lost twelve members of her extended family
to hunger.
I came from Buula Iir village to escape the harsh conditions there. We
dont have food, water or clothes. Our farms are barren, our livestock
are dead, our men cannot find work, she explained.
Bay region Governor Rashid Abdullahi Mohamed disclosed that an
estimated 3,000 families from neighbouring villages have moved to the
administrative capital of the South West state to escape the harsh
conditions in their homes.
The situation is dire, people desperately need support and we appeal
to well wishers to step in and offer help to needy populations here,
said Governor Mohamed.
The President of the Interim South West Administration (ISWA), Sharif
Hassan Sheikh Adan, echoed that call for assistance.
We are in an emergency situation. The effects of the drought are
evident, people are struggling with poor health, starvation and
insecurity, he said.
The ISWA president accused al-Shabaab militants of impeding the
delivery of humanitarian assistance to drought victims. He called on the
federal government of Somalia and the international community to
expedite the opening and securing of main supply routes, especially
the 243-kilometer Baidoa-Mogadishu road, to facilitate the
transportation of humanitarian supplies.
END