Somali Observatory for Humanitarian Affairs The Voice of Reality.. The Eye of Humanitarian Truth in Somalia
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GOLWEYN (SOHA) – The African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia sent its first batch of emergency aid to help thousands of people displaced by floods in Lower Shabelle region where heavy floods triggered by torrential monsoon rains continue to hamper relief efforts.
Flash floods have swept away homes, cut off roads and devastated large hectares of farmlands in the fertile region with levels of Shabelle river which broke its banks due to rain floods and flooded villages rose further last week and threatened to hit a peak.
The aid package donated by the Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni through the African Union force in Somalia has provided relief to thousands of people in Golweyn village who have received bags of rice, sugar, cans of cooking oil and packaged dry milk.
On early Wednesday, hundreds of soldiers have walked across the mud-baked streets in the village, giving out food and water to the villagers.
According to the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Coordination (OCHA), flash and river flooding has so far affected an estimated 630,000 people across Somalia, with more than 214,800 of these have been displaced from their homes following the heavy rains received across the country in April, according to the UNHCR-led Protection & Return Monitoring Network (PRMN).
Somali government has appealed for an international aid for the people affected by the floods, with the president of the republic has urged Somalis to volunteer and to donate money to the victims.
Earlier, president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has flown to the flood-stricken areas in central Somalia and hugged flood victims as he toured across temporary shelters for the displaced people in Beledweyne town, declaring the situation as an ‘emergency humanitarian crisis’.
The government has since donated over $1 million in cash to the flood victims and continues to send aid including medical aid to the regions affected by the floods.
Source: SONNA
