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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.
All offset against increased Bord Gais,Eircom,transport,home and health insurance
This cost of living study takes all of those into account. Unless Mercer are completely incompetent.
Are they serious? Food, booze, energy, mortgages etc, all still bloody expensive!
Food is not actually that expensive, one trip to Lidl per week fills my cupboard for under €30. That’s food, drink, lunches, dinners, the lot. As for booze, it’s a luxury (which I quite enjoy), but as a luxury the price depends on supply and demand.
And tax….
The price of a luxury depends on supply, demand and tax folks…
Would you not shop in an Irish supermarket?? I get that Lidl and Aldi are great if you have a big family and that they employ Irish staff, but most of what they sell are imports and the profits go back to their German headquarters.
Do a weekly shop in Superquinn and you’ll find it sore when you sit down for a couple of days.
Just aswell we have Dunnes and Supervalue so!
Ann, you obviously don’t realize that Lidl and Aldi actually source far more products in Ireland than many competitors such as Tesco and Dunnes. Much of the fresh produce is sourced from Irish farms, and packaged meats, sausages etc are often of Irish origin.
Not anywhere near where I live Ann, I’m afraid.
A pint is still obscenely expensive.
That’s the only thing that matters.
paying 8 euros for a pint of plain here in sweden : (
Precisely, it’s a key economic indicator.
It reflects the price of grain (which ref;ects high prices for all other foods) and the levels of taxation.
Probably reflective of the drop in wages, jobs etc while the same time the rise in taxation and charges. I bet its still as expensive live in for the people who work, live and survive in
Increases in taxes and charges would increase the cost of living, so I’m not exactly sure what you are trying to say.
Good its an overpriced dump anywya
Typical ignorant culchie comment.
What a parochial, low-life comment.
Those who gave the thumbs down were annoyed at not knowing what parochial means!
From the link:
Two main factors determine a city’s position in Mercer’s Cost of Living rankings:
the relative strength of the relevant currency against the US dollar in the 12 months between ranking (March 2011 to March 2012 in this case); and
price movements over the 12 month-period compared to those in New York City as the base.
So the weakening of the euro in relation to the dollar is a contributing factor as well.
In fact, again according to the link “Most European cities drop in the ranking” except for Geneva in Switzerland which is non Euro. Since this is a comparative study it doesn’t really show if the cost of living has fallen in Ireland, only that it has fallen in comparison to other places. This while the Dublin Chamber of Commerce are right in saying that the city is gaining competitiveness, it is not actually because of anything we have done.
So rather then the headline saying that the cost of living has fallen in Dublin, it should really say that the cost of visiting Dublin has fallen if you are coming from outside the Eurozone. Which is good in itself, but means little to those of us who do not make our living from tourist related activities.
That is exactly the point I was making earlier on which seems to have gone over the heads of some of the readers
I found temple bar very expensive on little womens xmas, me and the girls could barely pay for the taxi
It’s where all the tourists and their wallets go. What did you expect?
And where they get mugged by the jackines
This is a US ex-patriate focused survey. It uses New York and the US dollar as a base. New York is 33rd on this list. If you were a resident of New York now and had to move to Dublin, which is #72, you would find that the overall cost of living is lower in Dublin than it is in New York, whereas if you moved to Tokyo you would feel the pain.
Maybe if you are visiting. Energy, communications and insurance are robbery.
That can’t be right! I haven’t been this broke since I was 16!
Moscow is not a city in Europe -,-
it is, you know
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