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File: A woman carries a child and a tin of vegetable oil she just received at a food distribution center in Mogadishu, Somalia. Ben Curtis/AP/Press Association Images

UN: Somali famine is over, but action still needed

The UN said that long-awaited rains, coupled with substantial agricultural inputs and the humanitarian response are the main reasons for the improvement.

THE UNITED NATIONS has said that the famine in Somalia is over – but the crisis in the Horn of Africa is not.

The UN made the announcement at the weekend, declaring an end of famine conditions in Somalia but warning that efforts to restore food security and “help people resume normal lives” are still needed.

At one point there were 4 million people in Somalia in need of emergency humanitarian assistance, a figure which has dropped to 2.3 million, said the UN. This represents 31 per cent of the country’s population.

On top of this, 325,000 Somalian children are acutely malnourished.

José Graziano da Silva, Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), told reporters that “long-awaited rains, coupled with substantial agricultural inputs and the humanitarian response deployed in the last six months, are the main reasons for this improvement.”

The drought that hit the Horn of Africa in 2011 led to tens of thousands of deaths, the UN reported, and 9.5 million people still require emergency assistance in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti.

This is down from 13.3 million people in September 2011.

Almost 300,000 Somali refugees fled to Kenya, Ethopia, Djibouti and Yemen due to the crisis in the past year.

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos warned:

While sustained humanitarian efforts and a good harvest have helped to mitigate the crisis, we must not forget that the progress made is fragile.
Without continued and generous support from the international community, these gains could be reversed. Continued conflict and lack of access to people in need remain major operational challenges.

Mark Bowden, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somila said that the country could “easily slip back” unless the current levels of support are maintained.

He also said that while the emergency assistance has helped to reduce the high levels of mortality, it has not “solved” the problems being experienced in the country.

Read: Failure to respond led to thousands of needless deaths in Africa – aid agencies>

Read: Concerns raised for humanitarian work after Somali militants ban aid agencies>

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    Mute Seriously stunned
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    Feb 6th 2019, 8:29 AM

    They should have asked liam neeson.he won’t be busy for next while id say.

    159
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    Mute Aidan Mitchell
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    Feb 6th 2019, 8:41 AM

    @Seriously stunned: na, he probably will. I’m sure rational people can interpret what he actually said, and not let the gutter press do it for them.

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    Mute Damien Barton
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    Feb 6th 2019, 8:41 AM

    @Seriously stunned: Kevin hart is racist too that’s why there’s no host

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    Mute thomas patrick
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    Feb 6th 2019, 8:44 AM

    @Damien Barton: Sure apparantly everyone’s a racist now

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    Mute Lily Martin
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    Feb 6th 2019, 9:16 AM

    @Damien Barton: Hart is not hosting because he is homophobic. Although he could be racist also, it’s hard to keep up.

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    Mute Aidan Mitchell
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    Feb 6th 2019, 10:45 AM

    @Lily Martin: he’s not homophobic. Do keep up.

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    Mute Bridget O'Hanlon
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    Feb 6th 2019, 11:00 AM

    @Aidan Mitchell: who are these rational people of whom you speak?

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    Mute Sean Kirwan
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    Feb 6th 2019, 11:20 AM

    I hear your a racist now father

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    Mute PC Principal
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    Feb 6th 2019, 8:49 AM

    Who would want to host the number one SJW event of the year? Especially after seeing what they did to Kevin Hart

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    Mute The Quare Fella
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    Feb 6th 2019, 11:38 AM

    @PC Principal:
    And more people watched the food channel last year than the Oscars, which is why they’ve introduced a new award “Most popular movie”, a desperate stunt to recover viewers.
    DeNiro’s recent outburst on stage against Trump was a typical example of the mindset of these detached self-adulatory millionaires and why people are tuning out in their droves.

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    Mute Jackie Carvill Caruana
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    Feb 6th 2019, 1:40 PM

    @The Quare Fella: Hollywood is in the process of disappearing up its one bum.

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    Mute Paul
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    Feb 6th 2019, 9:33 AM

    If you want to know how well a movie did these days then you just have to look it up online instead of a show being hosted by questionable people telling us what we should think and what deserves an award because they belong to a particular race and gender that happens to be the flavour of the month

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    Mute Peter Cavey
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    Feb 6th 2019, 8:54 AM

    Maroon 5 could be hosting after the terrific job they did at the Superbowl :)

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    Mute Graham Murphy
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    Feb 6th 2019, 8:56 AM

    And not a white male honky amongst them I bet.

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    Mute Karen Wellington
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    Feb 6th 2019, 8:59 AM

    @Graham Murphy: if you’re interested; they’re listed in the article you skipped past on your way to comment. Daniel Craig and Chris Evans, just in case you can’t be bothered.

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    Mute Patrick Agnew
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    Feb 6th 2019, 9:00 AM

    Who gives a damn about it

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    Mute Ah Phooey
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    Feb 6th 2019, 11:22 AM

    Trump!

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    Mute Jaci Black
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    Feb 6th 2019, 1:46 PM

    I ended watching the ‘Oscars’ when Adrien Brody got best actor over Daniel Day Lewis.

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    Mute Punker
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    Feb 6th 2019, 9:14 AM

    “Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”

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    Mute Kem Trayle
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    Feb 6th 2019, 1:17 PM

    @Punker: “Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. It doesn’t last as long if you’re fat.”

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    Mute Punker
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    Feb 6th 2019, 2:33 PM

    @Kem Trayle: :) :)

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    Mute Dermot Mc Carthy
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    Feb 6th 2019, 11:32 AM

    The patriarchal systems of institutionalized structures are problematic

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    Mute Breedge
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    Feb 6th 2019, 1:34 PM

    Liam Neeson and Kevin Hart would make it interesting

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    Mute Dominic Leleu
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    Feb 6th 2019, 10:23 AM

    Good. Less stupid comments.

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