OCHA Situation Report
Somalia
Report for April 2007
16 May 2007


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

This report was written in cooperation with the UN Agencies in Somalia

HIGHLIGHTS

The month of April saw continued deterioration in the security situation 
in Mogadishu, as fierce fighting between TFG/Ethiopian forces and 
anti-TFG factions resulted in the death and continued displacement of 
civilians. A total of 394,000 people have fled Mogadishu between 1 
February and 4 May. The third week of the month was particularly 
violent, with two car bombs exploding and the SOS hospital hit by 
mortars. In the final days of April, the TFG announced that it had taken 
control of much of the city. Since then, Mogadishu has remained 
relatively calm. Movement out of the city has slowed dramatically, and 
small numbers of IDPs have returned. However, fears of renewed violence 
remain and are preventing large-scale returns.

Health concerns continue to focus on the Acute Watery Diarrhea 
(AWD)/cholera outbreak in South/Central Somalia, with 23,202 cases 
confirmed, including 743 related deaths, between 1 January 2007 and 27 
April. The actual number of cases may be higher, as some areas remain 
inaccessible. The recent wave of displacement from Mogadishu is 
contributing to the spread of AWD/cholera, as are long-standing problems 
of poor access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities. Health 
partners are responding to the outbreak, providing basic health services 
to over 365,000 IDPs and non-IDPs in a number of regions. Meanwhile, two 
new cases of polio were reported in April in Mudug region. So far in 
2007, eight cases of polio have been confirmed throughout Somalia. 
Intensified efforts to stop the circulation of the virus are continuing.

The security situation, particularly in Mogadishu, continued to 
seriously restrict humanitarian access in April. Overland transport of 
goods and staff remained dangerous, especially on roads in and out of 
Mogadishu, and aid workers reported harassment by militia and 
TFG/Ethiopian troops. The roads linking Mogadishu with Afgoye and Merka 
were closed sporadically due to military activity, hindering attempts to 
move assistance to thousands of IDPs in these areas. Moreover, agencies 
were unable to access warehouses in Mogadishu where pre-positioned food 
and non-food items (NFIs) are stored. Key airstrips near Mogadishu 
remained closed for much of the month. The onset of the Gu rains 
(April-June) also began to impede access. WFP food distribution in 
Middle Juba was halted due to impassable roads, while a WFP convoy 
carrying 1,176 metric tons (MT) of food to Afmadow and Hagar was stuck 
in the mud for over two weeks. The convoy began moving to Buale on 30 
April, but the distribution has been postponed until road conditions 
allow.

The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator traveled to Mogadishu on 12 May to 
assess the humanitarian situation in areas affected by the recent 
conflict and to hold talks with the Transitional Federal Government and 
civil society. The ERC urged parties in Somalia to abide by 
International Humanitarian Law and to provide full support for 
unhindered humanitarian access to populations in need. His visit was the 
latest in a series of high-level advocacy initiatives undertaken by the 
international and humanitarian communities in April and early May in an 
effort to increase humanitarian access. In Baidoa on 23 April, UN 
officials met with the Minister of Health and the newly established 
Inter-Ministerial Committee, a technical working group appointed by the 
TFG to act as the focal point for humanitarian response to the crisis. 
At the meeting, which addressed obstacles to humanitarian access, the 
TFG declared all civilian airstrips open.

The various demarches undertaken and the decrease in violence at the end 
of April allowed for some improvements in access. Following a security 
assessment, the airstrip at K50 is now open to humanitarian cargo and 
passenger flights, and it is hoped this will facilitate greater access 
to the region. Cross-border transport of humanitarian supplies from 
Kenya to Somalia proceeded without incident in late April and early May 
(though the border remains closed to potential Somali asylum-seekers).

In spite of access restrictions and insecurity during the reporting 
period, UN agencies and NGOs, along with local partners, were able to 
increase response to the needs of those displaced by the conflict. In 
Lower Shabelle, tens of thousands received NFIs, food aid and water, 
while health and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) partners provided 
chlorine, cholera kits and medical supplies. In Middle Shabelle, 
thousands also received NFIs. In the border town of Dobley in Lower 
Juba, NFIs and cholera treatment supplies were provided. Tens of 
thousands of IDPs in Galgadud and South Mudug received NFIs and will 
also receive food, while in Mogadishu itself, response activities 
focused on water trucking/chlorination, the resupply of health 
facilities with essential drugs and kits and the operation of Cholera 
Treatment Centres (CTCs).

ACCESS and SECURITY

The month of April saw continued deterioration in the security situation 
in Mogadishu, as fierce fighting between TFG/Ethiopian forces and 
anti-TFG factions resulted in more civilian deaths and further 
displacement. UNHCR estimates that 190,000 people fled the city in 
April. (This is out of a total of 394,000 displaced between 1 February 
and 10 May.) The third week in the month was particularly violent, with 
two car bombs exploding ? one on the Mogadishu-Afgoye road, the other in 
Mogadishu. The headquarters of Somali NGO DBG (Daryeel Bulsho Guud) was 
hit by artillery fire, and SOS hospital was struck by mortars, 
reportedly resulting in the death of several patients. The hospital was 
closed and all staff evacuated. In the final days of April, the TFG 
announced that it had taken control of much of the city. Since then, 
Mogadishu has remained relatively calm and small numbers of IDPs have 
returned to the city. Returns, however, are minimal, and tensions 
persist in the capital.

Elsewhere in South/Central, there were signs that the violence in 
Mogadishu was having a destabilizing effect. On 23 April, serious clan 
fighting erupted in Kismayo (Lower Juba) over control of the key port 
city, resulting in at least 11 dead and 40 wounded. The fighting 
occurred just days after the first UN inter-agency mission to Kismayo 
since December 2006 had taken place. Kismayo had been closed to UN 
international staff for security reasons and it was hoped that the 
mission, which met with local authorities and partners about increasing 
the humanitarian response in Kismayo, represented a breakthrough in 
access.

The security situation, particularly in Mogadishu, continued to 
seriously restrict humanitarian access during April. Key airstrips in 
South/Central remained closed. Overland transport of goods and staff 
remained dangerous, especially on roads leading to and from Mogadishu, 
with reports of banditry, murder and rape on these routes, as well as 
the harassment of aid workers by militia and TFG/Ethiopian troops. The 
roads linking Mogadishu with Afgoye and Merka were closed sporadically 
due to military activity, hindering attempts to move assistance to the 
thousands of IDPs in these areas. (The tension in and around Kismayo 
also caused transport delays, with contractors reportedly reluctant to 
operate in the affected areas.) Moreover, agencies had difficulty 
accessing warehouses in Mogadishu where needed pre-positioned supplies 
are stored. Although UNHCR was able to remove some NFIs from Mogadishu 
in late April for distribution in Afgoye, the vast majority of 
UNICEF/UNHCR supplies warehoused in the capital remained inaccessible. 
In addition, CARE was temporarily unable to move 1,371MT of food stored 
in Mogadishu intended for 60,000 IDPs in Galgadud and South Mudug.

The Gu rains (April-June) have also begun to impede access. Roads in 
Gedo and Lower and Middle Juba are reported to be affected, while roads 
around Afmadow and Badhade (Lower Juba) are flooded to the extent that 
some areas are now cut off. WFP food distribution in Middle Juba was 
halted due to impassable roads, while a WFP convoy carrying 1,176MT of 
food to Afmadow and Hagar was stuck in the mud for over two weeks. 
Recently, flooding in Jowhar resulted in the closing of the airstrip on 
15 May, as well as the closing of the main Mogadishu-Hiran road running 
through Jowhar.

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