UN urges humanitarian aid for Somalia

The UN has called on the international community to provide US $50 million to evade the occurrence of a humanitarian catastrophe which will endanger 600,000 inhabitants in Somalia.

AFP quoted the humanitarian coordinator at the UN for Somalia, Randolph Kent, as saying on Monday in a press conference in New York, "We urge the international community to work to stop a catastrophe from taking place as more than 600,000 persons will be in drastic conditions during the coming months, but we can minimize the sufferings in case we move just now."

The UN official asserted the increasing stability in northeastern and northwestern Somalia, which is situated in the African Horn and has been partitioned by internal conflicts since 1991.

Kent considered it very important to ensure some US $50 million for the UN specialized committee in order to provide humanitarian aid allotted for preventive activities with the aim of convincing people not to leave their territories as well as to prevent an increase in the flow of refugees, who number almost half a million.

He stated that the main project is based on handing over UNICEF water systems.