U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Central and Eastern Africa

Tel: +254 2 622147
Fax: +254 2 622129
e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-Up 441
9 - 15 August 2008


CONTENTS:

ETHIOPIA-SOMALIA: Drought, fighting worsens situation of "Ogaden
   refugees
SOMALIA: Street children increase as food insecurity grips region
DJIBOUTI: Access to food halved


ETHIOPIA-SOMALIA: Drought, fighting worsens situation of "Ogaden 
refugees

Drought and recent fighting around the town of Beletweyne, in central 
Somalia's Hiiraan region, have aggravated the plight of at least 1,000 
Ethiopian refugee families, who were already facing acute food 
shortages, local sources said.

"Most of us fled from Kumisar, Afdub, Rebo, Omar Don and Dhur-dher 
locations in Kalafe district of the Somali region of Ethiopia," said 
Kamis Abdi Day, an elder of the two camps in Bilis-did and Bulo-korah 
(on the outskirts of Beletweyne).

Despite the presence of local partners of UN agencies, the Ethiopian 
refugees in Bilis-did and Bulo-korah camps were not receiving any aid, a 
journalist requesting anonymity said adding that the situation was 
deteriorating.

[Full report: 
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79775]


SOMALIA: Street children increase as food insecurity grips region Food 
insecurity compounded by inflation and recent fighting between 
insurgents and government forces around the town of Beletweyne in 
central Somalia's Hiran region has led to a sharp increase in the number 
of street children.

"More and more children are taking to the streets; some to engage in 
petty trade while others are just there in search of food," a journalist 
based in Beletweyne, who declined to be named said.

Robert Kihara, a spokesman for the UN Children's Fund in Somalia 
(UNICEF-Somalia) said the agency is currently conducting a rapid 
assessment of the child protection situation in Beletweyne through its 
Child Protection Network for Hiran.

[Full report: 
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79823]


DJIBOUTI: Access to food halved

Access to food in Djibouti has been cut by more than 50 percent because 
of reduced availability and rising prices, according to a humanitarian 
official.

"The price of rice [the main staple] had gone up by 28 percent since 
January and by 88 percent from [the average price] in 2007," Nancy 
Balfour, the disaster management coordinator for the Zonal Office of the 
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.

According to Balfour, the urban and peri-urban populations that have not 
been covered in past humanitarian interventions are the most affected. 
Other hard-hit areas include Obock in the northwest and Ali Sabieh in 
the southeast.

[Full report: 
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79824]


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