Foreign Policy Blogs

Somalia Too Dangerous for Relief Work

This isn't a surprise, I guess, but a group of relief agencies announced that the security environment in Somalia has become too dangerous for them to reach millions of Somalis. The CNN headline reads “Relief agencies: Somalia too dangerous for us to work” and although they may have said that, the article doesn't quote it, and I think it may have been a misinterpretation of what they meant. The actual quotes in the article sound a lot more to me like Oxfam and World Vision (2 of the NGOs listed in the article) were saying that the security conditions were stopping them from getting to some vulnerable populations, not that all work in Somalia was impossible. The article also doesn't say that any organizations plan to leave.

 

Author

Kevin Dean

Kevin Dean is a graduate student pursuing a master's degree in international conflict management and humanitarian emergencies at Georgetown University. Before returning to school in Fall 2006, he spent six years working in the former Soviet Union - most of that time spent in Central Asia. He has managed a diverse range of international development programs for the US State Department and USAID. He has also consulted for several UN agencies and international NGOs, and is fluent in Russian. Kevin is originally from Des Moines, Iowa and studied Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies at the University of Iowa.