Somalia: Drought Brings Water Shortages, High Food Prices

Somalia has one of the world's worst humanitarian¹ disasters, with hundreds of thousands of people displaced due to conflict. Now, a prolonged drought is adding to the country's many problems. A top U.N. official says he wants the Somali people to know that aid agencies will do everything they can to help.
U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator² for Somalia Mark Bowden has written an open letter to the Somali people. He says he "shares their fears and concerns."
"Well. I think it's very much on the basis of explaining to the Somali people what is happening to respond to the drought at the moment and the seriousness with which it's being treated," he says.
Deyr and Gu
The Deyr rains – the short rainy season between October and December – failed. Bowden says that's had a direct effect on people's health, especially children.
"We're seeing for the first time very high levels of malnutrition³ in places in southern Somalia, where children are suffering rates of 30 percent acute malnutrition. Now the normal levels, which you start an emergency intervention⁴, is 15 percent for acute malnutrition. So, it's double the rate, which is unusual and the highest rates we've seen in 10 years," he says.
And of course with a drought, water shortages are being reported in various parts of the country.
Bowden says, "We're also seeing drying up of water sources, some communities having difficulty accessing drinking water. And at the moment, the beginnings of the loss of livestock⁵ and the livelihoods⁶ of populations in southern, central and parts of northern Somalia affected⁷."
The U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator says little if any relief is expected from the Gu rains – the main rainy season - which under good conditions would begin around April.
"We've just seen some recent climatology studies, which seem to suggest that the La Ni?a phenomenon will persist and will affect and reduce rainfall in the worst affected parts of southern Somalia and the Gu rains as well. So, the prognosis at the moment does not look too encouraging for that part of Somalia," he says.
Digging for water
If nature won't provide water in the form a rainfall, then it will have to be found elsewhere.
Bowden says, "We are in some areas paying for water trucking or the movement of water to communities. But at the moment, our priority is to deepen the boreholes that exist and to create a network of strategic boreholes, which provide both support for the people's livelihoods to keep their cattle going and also for drinking water."
If livestock start to die in large numbers, Bowden says many people may migrate back to the capital Mogadishu in search of food and other assistance. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the city over the years to escape fighting between forces loyal to the Transitional Federal Government and various militias⁸, including al Shabab.
The U.N. is allocating⁹ $60 million to address the immediate¹⁰ needs of the Somali people, but if the Gu rains fail more money will be needed later in the year. How much? Bowden estimates more than $150 million would be required just to meet the food needs.

1 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

2 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

3 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

4 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

5 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

6 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

9 allocating   

分配，分派( allocate的现在分词 )； 把…拨给

参考例句：

• Administrative practice generally follows the judicial model in allocating burdens of proof. 在分配举证责任方面，行政实践通常遵循司法模式。
• A cyclical multiplexing technique, allocating resources in fixed-time slices. 以固定的时间片分配资源的循环复用技术。

10 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。