Somalia

DARAʼs Humanitarian Response Index (HRI) team visited Nairobi from February 14 to 24 to collect information on donorsʼ response to humanitarian needs in Somalia. Heightened violence and insecurity has led to most humanitarian actors working in Somalia being based in Nairobi. The team interviewed representatives of donor governments, implementing agencies and NGOʼs, and collected over 200 questionnaires for the 2010 HRI.

The politicization of humanitarian aid

One of the salient findings of the mission highlights the consequences of the United States’ decision to include the Somali insurgent group al-Shabaab in its list of terrorist organizations, further impairing the already limited humanitarian access to those in need in al-Shabaab controlled areas.
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"There is a very dangerous erosion of humanitarian principles in Somalia"

Albertien van der Veen is a senior evaluator for DARA with over 20 years of experience in humanitarian aid and development assistance. She has worked for NGO's, UN agencies and donors. Fresh from her mission to Nairobi, she shares her impressions of the crisis in Somalia.
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Read the Somalia HRI 2009 crisis report
HRI 2010 missions calendar