Awwal 15, 1432 H/Feb 18, 2011, SPA -- Almost one-third of Somalis are at risk of a humanitarian crisis as droughts threaten some 2.4 million people in the beleaguered Horn of Africa country, the top U.N. humanitarian official said on Thursday. As it stands, Somalia has one of the largest internally displaced populations in the world with more than 1.5 million forced from their homes as violence continues to plague the country that has not had a functioning government since 1991. Somalia "is on the brink of a much larger disaster due to the threat of a country-wide drought," said U.N. Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos. "Malnutrition has increased in the last six months in Southern Somalia and 2.4 million, 32 percent of the population, remain in crisis," she told a news conference, after returning from a trip to Somalia and Kenya. "Families are set to start selling their assets, including their houses and land to get by," she said. Some of the people at risk are in areas controlled by armed groups who are complicating the situation, Amos warned. "I cannot stress enough the importance in Somalia of finding a political solution. Only that would enable people to live in peace and dignity," she said. The fragile U.N.-backed Transitional Federal Government, which controls some parts of the capital Mogadishu and has little authority elsewhere in the country is supposed to step down in the coming months to pave the way for elections later this year.
