The UAE is sending tones of aid to Somalia, as drought-stricken families are on the move, trying to reach points where Emirates Red Crecent ERC is distributing food and water.
The aid is being supplied by Emirates Red Crescent under the directive of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
The first flight has reached Mogadishu, the Somali capital. ERC will also send an aid ship.
Included in the delivery are tankers of water to help people displaced by the drought. Somalia will also receive help to dig wells in some of the worst-afflicted areas.
Dr Mohammed Al Falahi, ERC Secretary General, said the organization was making significant efforts to help the Somali regions worst affected by the crisis.
The drought followed poor rainfall for three consecutive seasons. It has displaced about 345,000 people in the country, and about 4.6 million are in urgent need of help.
Aid agencies cannot distribute food in areas under the control of Al-Shabab, Somalia’s homegrown Islamic extremist rebels who are affiliated to Al-Qaeda. Somalia’s fragile central government struggles to assert itself beyond the capital and other limited areas.
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