HKMUN 2012 – Chair Report Forum: Security Council Issue: The Situation in the Horn of Africa Student Officer: Kyle Bryce-Borthwick Position: Secretary General Note: This document serves as an introduction to the topic. All delegates are strongly advised to supplement this document with independent research. _____________________________________________________________________
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Introduction
The Horn of Africa is undergoing an extremely tumultuous period of drought, famine and ongoing conflict. Southern Somalia is currently the area of highest concern, where Al-Shabaab militants currently inhibit the distribution of emergency relief and development aid. In Southern Ethiopia and Northern Kenya, famine and offshoots of sectarian violence in Somalia have also affected millions more. Action needs to be taken by the Security Council in order to resolve ongoing conflicts in the region that inhibit the distribution of aid and the promotion of food security. Particular focus should be given to Somalia, presently occupied by hostile AlShabaab forces in the south. Only then will peace and stability prosper in a region so often wrought with sectarian conflict and endemic famine.
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East African Drought •
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Ongoing humanitarian crisis involving 11 – 13.3 million Somali and East African citizens. o Victims are located primarily across the arid and semi-arid regions of Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia. o Of which 2 million are children affected by food shortages, and half a million are at immediate risk of death. o 840,000 are refugees 80% of which are women and children experiencing sexual violence and intimidation en route to refugee camps o Tens of thousands already dead. Around 25% of the Somali population has been displaced either internally or as refugees in neighbouring countries. Dabaab, Kenya houses the lionshare – 500,000 refugees in a site intended for only 90,000 inhabitants. Primarily caused by a drought, which caused endemic crop failure across the region
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Armed conflicts, rising food prices have been supplementary factors. Somalia labelled as the “word’s most unsafe place for humanitarian workers”1
“ The Horn of Africa is experiencing the most severe food crisis in the world today. Over 12 million people in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are severely affected and in urgent need of humanitarian aid, and there is no likelihood of this situation improving until 2012. This figure of affected people is a 38% increase since the figure recorded in March 2011. The situation is continuing to deteriorate, with famine in the lower Shabelle and Bakool regions of southern Somalia officially declared by the UN on 20 July. Eight other regions of southern Somalia are at risk of famine in the coming 1-2 months unless aid delivery increases in proportion to needs. While the famine declaration pertains to Somalia only, large parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti are also suffering from severe food insecurity as a result of drought and high food prices, and are seeing significant inflows of refugees fleeing the drought in Somalia. The trigger for this massive movement of people from and within Somalia (tens of thousands of people have been displaced to Mogadishu in search of help) is directly attributable to the drought, but also to the ongoing conflict in southern Somalia which has restricted access for humanitarian agencies. Somalia, in particular south-central Somalia, presents an array of security challenges, including but not limited to protracted armed conflict, civil unrest, crime, extremism and piracy. The situation is compounded by political uncertainty, isolation and extreme under-development. Unable to receive assistance in the most affected areas, people are forced to walk long distances under difficult conditions. Already in a very bad physical state when they begin their journeys, people – particularly women and children – are arriving in camps in Djibouti, Kenya and Ethiopia in appalling health condition and overwhelming the already-stretched response capacity and resources on the ground. Across the region, the situation is severe. Drought conditions in Kenya's northern and north-eastern districts, where most refugees are arriving, have worsened further after the inadequate performance of the March-June long rains. Food insecurity is expected to reach crisis levels in August and September in these areas. In Ethiopia, the prolonged La Niña conditions have affected two consecutive rainy seasons, causing rapidly deteriorating food security in the drought-affected lowlands of southern and south-eastern Ethiopia, and in parts of the central and southern highlands that depend on short-cycle crops cultivated during the February-to-May rainy season. In Djibouti, the current drought far exceeds normal variation, and has forced many pastoral and rural households to migrate. Increased rural-urban migration has led to a concentration of 70.6% of the population in urban areas, including 58% in the capital city. Urban food insecurity is rising due to high levels of unemployment and an increase of food prices, currently at 68% over the five-year average, aggravated by deteriorating terms of trade. 2
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International Humanitarian Approach European Commission released €158 million this year to support humanitarian efforts across the region. o “Humanitarian disaster of enormous magnitude” - Catherine Bearder (ALDE, UK) African Union member states undertook to release almost $350 million The 2011 UN Consolidated Appeal for Somalia raises $800 million for humanitarian efforts.
See “al-Shabaab”
"Humanitarian Requirements for the Horn of Africa Drought: July 2011 | ReliefWeb." 2
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The World Food Programme increases support for 700,000 people in July to more than 1.1 million people in October. Yet situation remains severe in Southern Somalia; Juba Hoose, Shabelle Dhexe and southern Galguduud. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) aided some 65,000 children, out of the 450,000 acutely malnourished children under 5 years of age, mainly in the south, where 75 per cent of acutely malnourished children live.3 o
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“UNICEF is working with partners to treat acute malnutrition through therapeutic feeding programmes; provide medicines and vaccinations to prevent disease; gain access to clean water through the repair of pumping stations, dig boreholes, chlorinate water sources and truck in water; support education through temporary learning spaces and the use of School-in-a-Box kits; and scale up of protection measures to ensure children are safe from violence, abuse and exploitation.”
UN Agencies support an average of 50,000 families per month through blanket supplementary feeding programmes. In addition, 20,000 families were admitted into “wet feeding” programmes.4
Political Situation
In 1986, the President of Somalia, Siad Barre, begins attacking dissident rebels and separatist factions, spurring a revolutionary uprising that would continue until 1991. The regions of “Puntland” and “Somaliland” in the north, however, remain relatively peaceful and declare independence from Somalia, but remain internationally unrecognized. Civil war ensues, causing the United Nations to set up UNISOM 1 through Resolutions 733 and 746 of the Security Council. UN humanitarian troops arrive in 1993, however are defeated in the Battle of Mogadishu – leading to the deaths of 24 Pakistani and 31 US soldiers. The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) is founded in 2004 as Somalia remains dogged in sectarian violence. The Islamic Courts Union (ICU), an extremist Islamist faction, gains control over Mogadishu from local warlords after a second “Battle for Mogadishu”. Ethiopia soon intervenes in 2007, and invades the nation, causing the collapse of ICU. Ethiopian forces then withdraw, leaving behind a smaller African Union and TFG contingent to content with the remnants of the disintegrated ICU occupying the south, including Al Shabaab -
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15th October: “Operation Defend Our Nation” launched by the Kenyan Government into Somali Territory. Follows kidnappings of Kenyan citizens as well as foreign aid workers. Transitional Federal Government then able to expand presence in Gedo and Juba Hoose regions. 25th October: Multiple killings occur in “Puntland”, killing Somali civilians as well as Danish aid-workers. Al-Shabaab claims respnsibility 1st November: TFG forces had a presence across all 16 districts of Mogadishu, effectively reclaiming the capital from militant groups. 4th ~ November: Al-Shabaab continues to commit near daily terrorist attacks, including a vehicle-bourne attack killing 170 civilians.
S/2011/759 S/2011/759
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Key Regional Players
- Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Currently the internationally recognized government representing the Republic of Somalia. Has made significant strides in the reclaiming the broken country, recovering Mogadishu in November of 2011. Expected to stage elections for the Transitional Federal Parliament in August of this year. - Al Shabaab The last remaining rebel faction from the breakup of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in 2006, following a joint Ethiopian and TFG invasion of Southern Somalia. It is a radical Islamist group called “The Youth” in Arabic with close ties to al-Qaeda. Estimated to have around 7,000 to 9,000 fighters. A strict Wahabbist group, Al Shabaab wishes to impose regimented Sharia law onto the Somali population. o
In 2009 it imposed a ban on World Food Programme activities in its controlled areas.
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Killed 76 in Uganda coinciding with the 2010 Football World Cup
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Has attracted support from the populace since 2006, primarily because the group offers stability to areas it controls.
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The drought across East Africa is seen to be weakening their previously strong support base. Al-Shabaab’s southern leaders, particularly Muktar Ali Robow and Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, wish to accept Western aid. However, general suspicion of non-Muslim activities led their leader Ahmed Abdi Godane to flat-out ban the acceptance of Western aid.
- Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a Moderate sufist paramilitary organization fundamentally opposed to Al Shabaab. Supports distribution of music, protection of shrines, khat and opposes hard-line capital punishment, stoning and limb mutilation. Given control of five government ministries by the TFG authorities since 15th March 2010, after the group won back several areas in southern Somalia from the al-Shabaab. - African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) Established by the African Union’s Peace and Security Council in January 2007. Currently comprises of approximately 10,000 peacekeepers from Africa; primarily from Uganda and Burundi. Their mandate has been sanctioned by the UN Security Council since 2007 by Resolution 1774, and most recently updated by Resolution 2010. Following Kenya’s “Operation Defend our
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Security Council Approaches The Security Council’s primary aim should be to promote aid deliverance to afflicted communities across the Horn of Africa. Achieving this goal would encompass restricting the influence of the AlShabaab within the southern Somalia and the neighbouring region. o Reforming and expanding the role of AMISOM may be integral in this endeavour. Additional attention should be diverted to developing general stablility across the region, limiting the impact of Islamist and other paramilitary organizations. 4
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Consideration should also be given to the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia. The Security Council must aid the formation of a credible government to help end the transition period. The Security Council must act with care in ensuring that it follows its mandate as set out by previous resolutions, particularly Resolution 2010.
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Works Cited "BBC News - Somali Famine: Fighting in Mogadishu after 'aid Threat'" BBC Homepage. BBC News, 28 July 2011. Web. 03 Jan. 2012. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14323426>. Bloemen, Shantha. "UNICEF - Press Centre - Situation in Horn of Africa Set to Get Worse for Millions of Children." UNICEF Home. UNICEF, 17 July 2011. Web. 02 Jan. 2012. <http://www.unicef.org/media/media_59241.html>. Carson, Johnnie, and Reuben Brigety. "Current Situation in the Horn of Africa." U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State, 19 July 2011. Web. 03 Jan. 2012. <http://www.state.gov/p/af/rls/spbr/2011/168786.htm>. Chothia, Farouk. "BBC News - Could Somali Famine Deal a Fatal Blow to AlShabab?" BBC - Homepage. BBC Africa Service, 9 Aug. 2011. Web. 03 Jan. 2012. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14373264>. European Parliament. Directorate-General for Communication. EU-ACP Assembly to Vote on a Resolution on the Situation in Somalia. European Parliament. European Union, 22 Nov. 2011. Web. 25 Nov. 2011. <http://www.europarl.europa.eu/intcoop/acp/2011_lome/pdf/crise_alimentaire _en.pdf>. "Humanitarian Requirements for the Horn of Africa Drought: July 2011 | ReliefWeb." Home | ReliefWeb. OCHA, 29 July 2011. Web. 03 Jan. 2012. <http://reliefweb.int/node/437760>. Waaijma, Gabriella, and Federica D’Andreagiovanni. Horn of Africa Crisis. Rep. no. 27. OCHA, 16 Dec. 2011. Web. 3 Jan. 2012. S/2011/277 “Report of the Secretary-General on Somalia” 28 Apr. 2011 S/2011/759 “Report of the Secretary-General on Somalia” 9 December 2011
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