SOMALIA:THE CHALLENGES faced by humanitarian workers in Somalia are some of the most difficult and desperate ever experienced, Concern's overseas director has said following a visit to the country, writes Mary Fitzgerald.
Somalia has become increasingly dangerous in the last 18 months, with hundreds of civilians killed and many more displaced by fighting between Islamist factions and Ethiopian-backed government forces.
As lawlessness spreads across the Horn of Africa country, aid workers have become a common target. A total of 19 aid workers have been killed in Somalia this year, while 13 others have been abducted, according to the United Nations.
As a result, aid agencies have scaled down operations despite the growing humanitarian crisis. At least 2.6 million Somalis face hunger due to acute food shortages. A number of factors including prolonged drought and general insecurity have contributed to the shortfall, which has been compounded by the rise in global food prices.
"The situation humanitarian agencies face in Somalia right now is probably the most difficult and desperate we have had in any country," said Paul O'Brien, who witnessed conditions in a number of camps for displaced persons during his visit last week.
"They are feeling huge pressure because of the deliberate killing and kidnapping of aid workers. People talk of a 'hidden hand' in this. No one knows who is doing the killing and why they are doing it.
"There is such a great humanitarian need in the country - it is ironic that the people who are trying to address that need are being targeted."
Earlier this week Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who recently took over the leadership of Somalia's Islamist opposition, called for the killing and kidnapping of aid workers to cease.
Meanwhile, the foreign minister representing the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia has called on the UN Security Council to send a peacekeeping force.
An African Union force deployed in Somalia has admitted it is no longer capable of stabilising the country, and has also called for the UN to intervene.
Concern is one of the few humanitarian agencies still operating in Somalia. Its team, which consists of 76 local and four international staff, works in four different regions of the country.