Somalia: Marking one year since famine

NAIROBI [ACTED News] - To mark one year since the famine declaration in Somalia, ACTED attended a media briefing hosted by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The event was hosted to highlight the main challenges faced in the famine response, back in July 2011. The key message from Mark Bowden, OCHA’s humanitarian coordinator for Somalia was : the humanitarian situation has improved since last year, but 2.5 million Somalis remain in crisis and another 1.29 million could fall back into crisis without sustained support. The main issue raised was the lack of emergency funding available for rapid humanitarian assistance; something that needs to be strengthened for future disaster preparedness.