The special envoy of the Somali president for Humanitarian Affairs and Drought, Abdirahman Abdi Shakur, accompanied by Qatar’s ambassador to Somalia, Hassan bin Hamza Hashem, officials from Qatar Charity (QC) and members of the National Committee of Somalia visited Bartiri in Jubbaland State, which is one of the areas most affected by drought.
The delegation visited Often camp, which is one of the 21 camps hosted by Bartiri and distributed food baskets to families affected by drought, with the support of the people of Qatar within the framework of the Qatar Charity campaign, ‘Stop Somalia Famine’.
The Often camp is home to 28,000 families who have been displaced from nearby towns and regions to escape the droughts that struck Somalia.
The Somali president’s special envoy for Humanitarian Affairs and Drought praised Qatar’s role in delivering aid to the afflicted, as well as Qatar Charity’s efforts to assist the displaced.
He appealed to the Arab countries and international community to rescue the affected and provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the displaced who are facing harsh humanitarian conditions.
Saud Al-Maadeed, director of Qatar Charity’s Media Department, said Qatar Charity officially started its interventions in Somalia in 2008 across various sectors, as it has implemented development projects in all Somali states over the past years.
He added that the visit of the Qatar Charity delegation to Somalia was an urgent move to inspect and understand the humanitarian situation as well as the needs, and collect aid and donations to save the drought-affected as soon as possible.
He stressed that Qatar Charity is fully prepared to assist in relief campaigns, and this aid provided is just the beginning of more comprehensive aid.
Mohamed Wali Youssef, an official from Bartiri said: “Without the help of people both inside and outside, the city cannot bear these many numbers – which are increasing day by day. Our latest statistics have reached 28,000 families, in addition to the families who lived with their relatives in the city.”
He noted that the basic needs of these families are shelter, health, water, sanitation and food, explaining that Qatar Charity contributed by providing food supplies to 514 families, which means these families have enough for a month.
The delegation distributed food baskets to the families most affected by the drought and who live in the Duryel, Kulms and al-Maqbar camps. The baskets included basic food items that would suffice families for a whole month, and the number of beneficiaries reached 514 families (3,084 beneficiaries).
In addition, Adam Sheikh Hassan, Duryel camp official, said the Duryel camp shelters 5,000 displaced families from the regions of Lower Shabelle, Bay, Bakool, Gedo and Middle Shabelle, who suffer from difficult living and health conditions, and this suffering increases day by day, especially now as the weather is hot during the day, while it is very cold at night.
In addition, most of the camp residents live in houses made of tree branches and the remains of worn clothes.
Abdel Nour Mursal, director of Qatar Charity’s office in Somalia, explained that the Qatar Charity intervention started at the beginning of the humanitarian crisis in the affected areas in all Somali states, as more than 123,738 people benefited from relief campaigns in the food and nutrition sector between November 2021 and May 2022.
The drought crisis had a great impact, especially on children due to famine, and caused the death of children and malnutrition of hundreds of thousands.
Qatar Charity operates a mobile health clinic for those affected by drought, which provides free health services, and receives more than 200 patients daily, most of whom are children, women and the elderly.
