NAIROBI, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) — The UN Children’s Fund (UNCIEF) said on Thursday that Somali children are at high risk as escalating hostilities against aid work has continued to hamper aid delivery.

In a statement issued in Nairobi, the UN agency said it has postponed the dispatch of hundreds of tons of life-saving nutritional supplies meant for the prevention and treatment of acute malnutrition in over 85,000 Somali children in certain areas in the central and southern regions of Somalia due to increased hostility towards aid organizations.

The UNICEF said the distribution of malaria prevention bednets to more than 100,000 women and children has also been disrupted.

In the areas of these regions where security assurances are provided, the UNICEF continues to deliver its humanitarian supplies and programs.

“We need concrete assurances from the local authorities for the safe delivery and storage of supplies to ensure that we can carry out programs for the survival of Somali children and women,” said Rozanne Chorlton, UNICEF representative to Somalia.

“We hope these assurances will be forthcoming very soon so that we can continue our operations at a level that matches the needs of children and women and prevent the deaths that will otherwise certainly occur.”

UNICEF’s compound in Jowhar (central Somalia) – the main hub for its program operations in central south Somalia – was taken over on May 17 and large volumes of life-saving humanitarian supplies and communications equipment were destroyed or taken from the compound and from UNICEF warehouses in Jowhar.

In addition, reports indicated that UNICEF emergency supplies stored in a partner’s warehouse in Jammame (Lower Juba region) were taken in early August.

The UNICEF is the lead agency in the provision of vaccines and essential drugs for maternal and child health clinics and health posts targeting at 1.2 million children under five and 1.4 million women in central south Somalia.

The lives of these children and women will be at high risk if the UNICEF is not able to operate fully and deliver supplies without disruption.

Source: Xinhua

By Daniel Ooko

Editor: Li Xianzhi

Photo: Somali children lined up to receive food at an aid distribution center on the outskirts of Mogadishu. By (MUSTAFA ABDI/AFP/Getty Images)

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