Churches and aid agencies call for Somalia action

-06/06/06

Churches and relief agenci


Churches and aid agencies call for Somalia action

-06/06/06

Churches and relief agencies in East Africa have expressed alarm about renewed fighting in Somalia, and have urged an increased international presence in the war-torn country, writes Fredrick Nzwili from Nairobi for Ecumenical News International.

ìIt is about time the international community said, ‘letís not leave the Somalis to help themselves’. We need to say enough is enough,î Karimi Kinoti, the regional representative of the British agency, Christian Aid, told ENI in Nairobi.

Battles between rival militias in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in recent weeks have left hundreds of people dead, mainly civilians. News reports on 1 June 2006 said fresh clashes had broken out near the capital’s market place, leading to hundreds of people fleeing their homes.

Somalia needed urgent humanitarian aid because of a drought in East Africa, Kinoti declared, but the conflict meant it was difficult for relief agencies to operate.

The country has had no effective government since the overthrow of President Siad Barre in 1991. Nations in the region brokered a peace agreement for Somalia in 2004, leading to the formation of a transitional government which is struggling to assert control.

ìSigning the agreement was one thing and implementation was another,î said the Rev Fred Nyabera, executive director of the Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lake Region and the Horn of Africa. ìThe international community needs to move in now.î

The United Nations special advisor on displacement Dennis McNamara warned in Nairobi on 30 May 2006 that the crisis could escalate if the fighting was not contained.

ìWe cannot afford to let it degenerate any further,î McNamara told journalists. ìIt has been ignored for too long. We cannot continue to do that.î

[With acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches.]


Churches and aid agencies call for Somalia action

-06/06/06

Churches and relief agencies in East Africa have expressed alarm about renewed fighting in Somalia, and have urged an increased international presence in the war-torn country, writes Fredrick Nzwili from Nairobi for Ecumenical News International.

ìIt is about time the international community said, ‘letís not leave the Somalis to help themselves’. We need to say enough is enough,î Karimi Kinoti, the regional representative of the British agency, Christian Aid, told ENI in Nairobi.

Battles between rival militias in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in recent weeks have left hundreds of people dead, mainly civilians. News reports on 1 June 2006 said fresh clashes had broken out near the capital’s market place, leading to hundreds of people fleeing their homes.

Somalia needed urgent humanitarian aid because of a drought in East Africa, Kinoti declared, but the conflict meant it was difficult for relief agencies to operate.

The country has had no effective government since the overthrow of President Siad Barre in 1991. Nations in the region brokered a peace agreement for Somalia in 2004, leading to the formation of a transitional government which is struggling to assert control.

ìSigning the agreement was one thing and implementation was another,î said the Rev Fred Nyabera, executive director of the Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lake Region and the Horn of Africa. ìThe international community needs to move in now.î

The United Nations special advisor on displacement Dennis McNamara warned in Nairobi on 30 May 2006 that the crisis could escalate if the fighting was not contained.

ìWe cannot afford to let it degenerate any further,î McNamara told journalists. ìIt has been ignored for too long. We cannot continue to do that.î

[With acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches.]