Somalia remains worst humanitarian crisis

William J. Garvelink, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and former head of USAID's humanitarian assistance efforts in Somalia, and Farha Tahir, also of CSIS, gave an interview 16 December 2011 on the famine in Somalia.

They acknowledged that the number of Somalis at risk of starvation has dropped from 750,000 to 250,000 but emphasized it remains the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. They noted that Kenya's intervention into Somalia has been mismanaged and is causing more harm than good. They commented that remittances from the Somali diaspora have played a critical role in cushioning the impact of the crisis. They suggested the situation will become worse before it gets better. They argued that only broad cooperation among the African Union forces, the Kenyan intervention force, Somali Transitional Federal Government, United Nations and non-governmental organizations can prevent imminent starvation.

You can read the entire interview at http://csis.org/print/34174.