African Union under fire for poor response to Somalia famine
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By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
August 25,2011 (ADDIS ABABA) - African leaders were mostly absent from
a summit held in Ethiopia that convened for the purpose of raising
funds to tackle the famine and drought driven humanitarian crisis in
Somalia and neighboring countries.
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Somalia’s president Sheikh Sherif Ahmed attends on August 25, 2011 at
the UN complex of Addis Ababa a meeting gathering African leaders to
pledge funds to tackle famine in Somalia and extreme drought across
the Horn of Africa that are putting millions of people at risk of
starvation (AFP)
Some 12 million people are affected by famine and drought in the Horn
of Africa. War-torn Somalia is the worst affected but the drought has
also hit millions in parts of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda.
Only the presidents of of Somalia, Djibouti and Equatorial Guinea were
in attendance today along with the host Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi.
On top of that the pledges made by African nations was nowhere near
what was needed,
African Union (AU) Commission chairman Jean Ping told reporters that
the donations included $300 million from the African Development Bank
(ADB) in loans and grants for long-term development in the Horn of
Africa.
There has been conflicting reports on how much individual African
nations donated though it appears that it was somewhere around $50
million.
Three African countries provided nearly half of the pledges – Algeria
($10m), Angola ($5m) and Egypt ($5m). Gambia, Mauritania and
Congo-Brazzaville gave more than their proportional share, while
Nigeria gave only $2m – less than some of its neighbours with smaller
economies. South Africa was also tightfisted, with Oxfam pointing out
that only $1.3m of its pledge came from government sources (the rest
came from individual donations), about the same as from South Sudan,
Africa’s newest state.
The AU said in a press release that the funding needs to address the
humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa has been put at $2.48
billion of which $1 billion has been committed so far.
The Pan-African organization itself has so far pledged just $500,000
from its emergency funds to a relief effort that aid groups say is
still short of an estimated $1.48 billion.
The fundraising summit was the first of its kind by the 54 member
continental bloc. "This is the first time Africa is showing solidarity
for an African cause," said AU chairman and president of Equatorial
Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
Many aid experts, analysts and diplomats said they expected little
from the 54-member organisation that has often been perceived as
toothless and has seen its funding battered by the absence of its main
financier, Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi.
The chairman of the AU Commission, Jean Ping, and other speakers
acknowledged the criticisms but said they needed time to prepare and
that they had already donated money.
"Some critics alleged that the African Union and its members states
have reacted too little, too late," Ping told delegates. "Ahead of
today, many pledges have been made."
But many NGO’s expressed frustration over the AU’s stance.
"We are disappointed that the pledges are less than the minimum of
$50m that Africans Act 4 Africa set as a target," said the pan-African
fundraising group. "If Andrew Adansi-Bonnah, an 11-year-old Ghanaian
boy can miss school and travel to Addis Ababa to demonstrate his
commitment to raising funds and adding his voice, why couldn’t more
African leaders have done the same?"
"If we truly believe in ’African solutions for African problems’, we
need to demonstrate this very clearly, not just in words but in
actions," said Africans Act 4 Africa. "We need to ensure this is not
just another talk shop where AU leaders spend a lot of money on
travel, protocol and their entourages."
The UN Deputy Secretary General, Asha-Rose Migiro addressing the
summit hailed African leaders for joining hands to tackle continent’s
crises, saying they are sending “a clear message to the world that the
African Union remains fully engaged with this crisis, and is taking a
leading role in all our efforts to save lives."
Asha said the UN is doing its level best to address the crises in
Somalia and the international response to the crises is accelerating
with aid organisations “arriving in greater numbers and aid delivering
is increasing in Mogadishu despite restrictions and security
concerns”.
(ST)
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