Written question asked by Harry Cohen (Labour) on Wednesday, 10 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 12 March 2010. It was answered by Gareth Thomas (Labour) on Wednesday, 17 March 2010 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Somalia: Overseas Aid

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 8 March 2010, Official Report, column 67W, on Somalia: overseas aid, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of arrangements for food supplies to be delivered and disbursed in the camps at Afgooye; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), current arrangements for distributing food aid to internally displaced people (IDPs) in the Afgooye corridor are inadequate. Between October and December 2009, IDPs in the Afgooye corridor received only half of the allocated food rations. Since the suspension of the United Nations World Food programme's (WFP) work in Afgooye in January, no food rations have been distributed.On 10 March, the Secretary of State for International Development announced an additional £7.5 million to be channelled through UNICEF, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and United Nations Humanitarian Response Fund (UN HRF) to help deliver emergency food for hundreds of thousands of malnourished children and provide lifesaving water supplies. UNICEF is already working in the Afgooye corridor, providing emergency nutrition to starving children and their mothers, and is considering expanding its remit. UN HRF and ICRC are exploring possibilities of providing food aid to the Afgooye Corridor.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 507 c851W; 322373
Session: 2009-10
Related items: Somalia: Overseas Aid
Monday, 8 March 2010
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Development aid Somalia
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk