100-day relief plan for Somalia launched; famine threatens millions with starvation.

With famine threatening an estimated 4.5 million people with imminent death from starvation, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Eliasson announced on 14 September that UN agencies would undertake a comprehensive 100-day play to accelerate relief efforts in Somalia, including immediate and massive infusions of food and seeds, as well as provision of shelter materials, clean water supplies, basic health services and other efforts to stabilize the society and the economy.

Somalia on 20 August had welcomed the emergency relief efforts under way, including the beginning of a two-month emergency airlift of food by the United States. The World Food Programme (WFP) had conducted an airlift, in cooperation with the Red Cross and other agencies, into isolated areas in the interior of Somalia and had for some time been flying in food to Mogadishu and the southern region of the country, where starvation and death were almost widespread.

The main challenge, reported the Secretary-General on 28 August (S/24480), was not delivering humanitarian relief supplies to ports and airports in Somalia, but protecting the convoys transporting supplies to warehouse and distribution centres.

Somalia has been embroiled in a clan-based civil war since President Mohammed Siad Barre, the country's leader for 21 years, was ousted in January 1991.

The United Nations Operations in Somalia (UNOSOM) was established by the Council on 24 April with the adoption of resolution 751 (1992), which authorized the immediate dispatch of 50 UN military observers to monitor the cease-fire between warring factions in Mogadishu.

The Security Council on 28 August had authorized the additional deployment of up to 3,000 security troops for UNOSOM, bringing its total strength to 4,219 personnel. The strengthened operation includes a 500-member force already deployed in the capital city of Mogadishu and a specialized logistical support staff of up to 719.

Four new security units, each with as many as 750 troops, were to be formed to secure the delivery and distribution of desperately needed food and other humanitarian relief supplies throughout war-torn, famine-stricken Somalia, a country on the Horn of Africa.

In unanimously adopting resolution 775 (1992), the Council also approved the establishment of UNOSOM headquarters in four operational zones, as part of the UN Secretary-General's plan to establish a presence in all parts of Somalia.

In each of the zones - the northwest (Berbera), the northeast (Bossasso), the central rangelands in Mogadishu (Mogadishu) and the south (Kismayo) - a consolidated UN operation would carry out humanitarian relief activities, cease-fire monitoring, security, demobilization and disarming, and national reconciliation efforts.

Banditry and looting

The cease-fire in Mogadishu - agreed to among the Somali faction on 3 March - had held "reasonably well", the Secretary-General reported (S/24343) on 22 July. However, ever, banditry and looting remained a major problem in both parts of the city and tension had increased noticeably in July, he stated, as a consequence of an incident involving a plane chartered by the WFP.

The aircraft, still bearing UN markings, was allegedly used for an illegal flight to Mogadishu to deliver newly-printed Somali currency and military equipment to one of the factions. An opposing warlord accused the UN of bias and delayed the deployment of UN observers, which leaders of the main factions had agreed to on 29 June.

Deployment resumed after the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Mohamed Sahnoun, secured assurances on 16 July that the currency would not be distributed. By 23 July, all 50 observers had arrived in Mogadishu and were deployed along the demarcation line separating the city into two zones.

Throughout Somalia, where the food situation was "critical", there were "incredible scenes of hunger, disease and dying children", the Secretary-General reported. "Civil conflict has prevented agricultural activity in the normally productive areas of the south, and north and central regions are suffering from severe drought. The threat of widespread famine in rural areas has become a reality."

The situation in the health sector was equally grave, he stated. Potable water was no longer available and large numbers of people were at serious risk of epidemics. Only 15 hospitals remained partially functional, most with no water, electricity, drugs or even basic medical equipment.

Access for aid deliveries had increased throughout Somalia, Mr. Eliasson told reporters in New York on 16 July. Several agencies were actively involved, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which had delivered some 83,000 metric tonnes of food to Somalia between January and July. More than 213,000 metric tonnes were in the pipeline for distribution by the end of 1992.

The Secretary-General on 15 July issued and updated consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for the Horn of Africa, asking for more than $500 million for humanitarian assistance to the countries concerned and outlining the need for special efforts to contain population movements and prevent the problems of one country from spilling over the neighbouring countries.

"Nowhere do so many millions of people continue to be poised so precariously on the brink of death as in the Horn of Africa", he stated. "Nowhere is the margin of survival so slim, the resources so scant and the future so bleak."

The Council on 24 July approved the establishment of four operational zones in Somalia, which the Secretary-General hoped would, as he put it, "adapt" UN involvement to the complexity of the situation in Somalia and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of humanitarian operations.

In unanimously adopting resolution 767 (1992), the Council also strongly supported the Secretary-General's decision to dispatch a technical team to Somalia to examine: the possibility of monitoring cease-fire arrangements in parts of the country other than Mogadishu: the possible deployment of UN military observers in south-west Somalia; the feasibility of an "arms for food" exchange programme; the need for security forces to escort and protect humanitarian aid activities and personnel in other parts of the country; and a possible UN role in re-establishing local police forces.

Urgent airlift requested

The Secretary-General was requested to make full use of all available means and arrangements, including mounting an urgent airlift operation to accelerate the provision of humanitarian assistance to the Somali people. All parties, movement and factions were urged to facilitate UN efforts to provide urgent humanitarian assistance.

The Council also reiterated its call for the full respect of the safety of personnel of humanitarian organizations and for the guarantee of their complete freedom of movement, and appealed to those involved to extend full cooperation to the military observes and ensure their security. All parties, movements and factions were also called upon to cooperate with the UN towards the urgent deployment of security personnel.

In addition, the Council asked the Secretary-General to promote an immediate cessation of hostilities and continue urgently his consultations with all parties, movements and factions towards convening a conference on national reconciliation and unity in Somalia, in close cooperation with the Organization of African Unity, the League of Arab States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

It stressed the need to observe and monitor strictly the general and complete embargo of all deliveries of weapons and military equipment to Somalia, as mandated by resolution 733 (1992).

A |divided country'

"Somalia today is divided country, fragmented on clan and family lines, without any recognized channels for political action", the Secretary-General observed in his report.

While the "inherent dangers" of working in Somalia posed enormous operational difficulties for the UN, the threat of mass starvation facing large segments of the population required "an immediate and comprehensive" response from the UN and the international community, he asserted, concluding that UN efforts must be enlarged to bring about an effective cease-fire throughout the country, while at the same time pressing forward with parallel efforts to promote national reconciliation.

On 28 July, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that nearly 600 Somali boat people seeking asylum in Kenya had been evacuated from two vessels which had arrived off that country's coast six days earlier.

Some 800,000 people had fled to neighbouring States, including Ethiopia, Djibouti, Yemen and Kenya, which hosted some 330,000 refugees. The UNHCR was urgently seeking resettlement for the most desperate and vulnerable cases.

The WFP, which had initially concentrated relief efforts on the Mogadishu area, expanded its food assistance programme in early August to include Kismayo in the south-east region of Somalia, where fierce factional fighting had caused mass displacements of people.

On 17 August, the WFP launched a major airlift to Baidoa, in the rangelands west of Mogadishu, where towns-people were severely affected by malnutrition, and planned airlifts to Hoddur and Baidera, where people were also reported to be in precarious condition.

A WFP spokesman on 20 August said that up to that time there had been no armed security to protect either relief personnel or convoys operating in Somalia. Often, "food that is distributed during the day, is taken away by gunmen at night", he said

On 12 August, ongoing negotiations conducted by Special Representative Sahnoun with leaders of the main factions in Mogadishu succeeded in finalizing an agreement to deploy a 500-member security force as authorized in resolution 751.

The Council on 14 August endorsed (S/24452) the Secretary-General's proposal (S/24451) that such security force be composed of a contingent from Pakistan and to proceed with its deployment as soon as possible. The troops were flown in by the United States military during the last two weeks of September.

On 28 August, the Council authorized deployment of four additional 750-strong security units in different parts of Somalia. They would be armed to provide relief convoys with sufficiently strong military escort to deter attack.

By unanimously adopting resolution 775, the Council invited the Secretary-General to establish four UNOSOM zone headquarters, as authorized in resolution 767. Each zone headquarters would be headed by a civilian Zone Director who with the necessary administrative staff, would assist the Special Representative.

New security units

The Secretary-General reported that agreement had been reached to deploy two of the new security units to provide security for relief-supplies convoys.

The Council subsequently authorized deployment of three specialized units - as many as 719 personnel - to provide logistics, communications and medical support to the security force.

By resolution 775, all parties, movements and factions in Somalia were called on to cooperate with the UN towards the urgent deployment of security personnel and to cease hostilities immediately and maintain a cease-fire throughout the country. The Secretary-General was asked to continue efforts to seek a comprehensive political solution to the crisis in Somalia.

The Council also welcomed substantial enhancement of the airlift operation to areas of priority attention in Somalia and the material and logistical support offered by several States. It urged that airlifts be coordinated by the UN, with the WFP office in Nairobi as the local point for such operation.

Reiterating its appeal to the international community to provide adequate financial and other resources for humanitarian efforts, the Council stressed the need for the observance and strict monitoring of the arms embargo imposed against Somalia under resolution 733 (1992).

The Secretary-General reported that "food for arms" could be an important component of an effort to improve security conditions in Somalia through a disarmament and demobilization programme but, according to the technical team, it would not be effective as long as arms were seen as "a means not only of personal security but also of survival".

Somalia was caught in "a vicious cycle" of insecurity and hunger, he observed. Lack of security prevented the delivery of food, while food shortages contributed to the level of violence and insecurity.

He called for the immediate implementation of the preventive zone concept - assisting people where they were located in order to prevent population movements and problems of one country from spilling over to neighbours - reflected in his 15 July Inter-Agency Appeal for the Horn of Africa.

Food and seeds

The implementation of the concept, under UNHCR leadership, would consist in its first phase of an operation to deliver food and seeds from Kenya to a preventive zone on the Somali side of the border aimed to reduce cross-border movements of people in search of food and contribute to decreasing friction in the border area.

The Secretary-General asserted that the Somalis themselves should progressively assume responsibility for establishing conditions and arrangements for distribution of humanitarian assistance. Therefore, he stated, a stronger UN role in securing access, transport and distribution of relief supplies must be paralleled by an effort to involve Somali entities fully in all aspects of that process.

Meanwhile, a UN spokesman confirmed on 28 August that two UN military observers had been wounded by gunfire while driving in an unarmed but clearly marked UN vehicle in the southern part of Mogadishu.

Under-Secretary-General Eliasson led a high-level inter-agency mission to Somalia from 10 to 12 September, during which meetings were convened with political leaders, clan elders, non-governmental organizations, the ICRC and UN relief workers.

100-day plan

The UN agencies participating in the mission - including the WFP, the UN Children's Fund, UNHCR, the UN Development Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the World Health Organization - decided to undertake a massive infusion of food and other relief activities, after the main factions in Somalia agreed that, during the next 100 days, free and safe access would be provided for the delivery of humanitarian assistance to affected populations.

During the 100-day period, the WFP aimed to deliver some 100,000 tonnes of food, as well as seeds, tool and livestock. On 13 September, the WFP began air-dropping food to isolated towns in Somalia which could not be reached by other means.

UNHCR would establish a full-time presence to support Somalis returning from Ethiopia and UNDP would undertake relief and recovery activities, giving priority to the restoration of essential basic services. In connection with the inter-agency mission and after the intervention of the Special Representative, the port of Mogadishu, which had been closed since 28 August after it was attacked and fuel, food and trucks were looted, was reopened.

EC declaration

On 14 September, the Foreign Ministers from the European Community (EC), who had visited Somalia earlier that month, issued a declaration (A/47/440-S/24558) stating that the "collapse of Government in Somalia and the resulting tragedy for its people" required a "most committed response" from the international community. The level of outside aid should be "commensurate to the gravity of the situation", they declared, appealing to other States to join with them in increasing the volume of international aid to Somalia.

The declaration confirmed their full support for the UN role in Somali, asserting that it was through Special Representative Sahnoun's consultations that legitimate government could be re-established in that country.

None of the Somali factions could lay claim to speak as the legitimate authority in Somalia, according to EC Member States, who called on the factions to restore legitimate authority through a process of national reconciliation.

The Face of Death

It was like the apocalypse, the end the world reported French photojournalist Maya Vidon after her three-week tour of tragedy-stricken Somalia. There she witnessed sights - looting, shooting, starvation, death - which, she said, "made me forbid myself to think, to feel". She used her camera as a shield so she could "detach and see the picture only".

Ms. Vidon was there, early one September morning, when Mohammed Osman (above) collapsed beneath a tree at the Red Crescent feeding centre in Baidoa, in the rangelands of southwestern Somalia. Attempts to feed him a few drops of milk failed. "As Mohammed's breathing became increasingly uneven, I kept myself at a distance", she said, "not daring to invade this man's intimacy in his last minutes." Suddenly he turned his eyes towards her. "I was pierced by his stare," she said, "even knowing he could not see me". Five minutes after this picture was taken, Mohammed Osman died.