Araweelo News Network
Displaced people have set up their makeshift camps on scorched dry earth. Credit: ITV News
Hargeisa-Somaliland(ANN)-A team from the Cornish charity Shelterbox is in Somaliland where a savage drought is threatening millions of people.
The self-declared state on the Horn of Africa has seen its rains fail for the last three years, and is now facing a famine as millions of livestock die.
The charity, who are experts on international emergency shelter, are in the city of Hargeisa talking to the aid community and government officials about the scale of the problem.
They say the people of Somaliland will need a mix of aid in the form of water, food, medicines and shelter.
Displaced communities are praying for rain to fall in the next couple of weeks. Credit: ITV News
Somaliland has a population of several million, half of whom are nomads.
Nomad life depends on livestock, and the continual search for grazing land. Already up to 70% of livestock have perished in some areas, and families are becoming even more widely displaced.
Many communities are hosting the displaced, and in this extreme situation are becoming overwhelmed.
There are some government-run camps, but they are little more than basic hubs providing water, food and hygiene items.
– JAMES LUXTON, TEAM LEADER
Credit: ITV News
Somaliland’s plea: ‘Don’t wait for people to die’
The nomadic population presents the greatest challenge to Shelterbox – they are a people constantly on the move, so even finding those in greatest need amid a vast open territory will be a task.
We are talking to all the relevant players, aid agencies and government, and will then decide what help ShelterBox is able to offer, and where.
– JAMES LUXTON, TEAM LEADER