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/ 23 December 2007

Aid workers face uphill battle in Somalia

The handful of grain Abiye Omar clutches in her skinny hand has travelled a long way from the fertile fields of America’s Midwest to the desolate Somali seaside town of Merka. It has sailed on a relief ship through seas plagued by pirates and sharks, then been carried ashore by porters into the hands of aid workers who have to contend with bandits, arsonists and insurgents.

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/ 4 December 2007

UN: Somalia freezes aid operations in south-east

The Somali government has frozen aid activities in a south-eastern region most affected by the country’s growing humanitarian crisis, a United Nations spokesperson told reporters on Tuesday. The new restrictions ban all humanitarian flights to the Lower Shabelle region’s airports, World Food Programme spokesperson Peter Smerdon said.