International Medical Corps Expands Services in Afgoye

Nairobi, Kenya/Los Angeles, CA, December 5, 2007—With over one million Somalis internally displaced, International Medical Corps is expanding its services to provide further health care and nutritional support to thousands of desperate, displaced Somalis who have been stranded in appalling conditions in Afgoye.

"The displaced people don't have enough water and sanitation facilities. Pregnant women need health care and we must provide support for malnourished children," says Patrick Mweki, IMC country director in Somalia, who just returned from a visit to Afgoye. International Medical Corps will establish temporary health posts among the displaced communities that can offer more services than the IMC mobile clinics have been able to thus far. "This will be a significant improvement, especially for malnourished children, who are too weak to walk long distances."

Since October, International Medical Corps has been operating in and around the town, just 20 miles from the capital Mogadishu. Afgoye is now Somalia's fastest growing settlement for people fleeing heavy fighting in the capital.

Approximately 230,000 are living in dire conditions, many under trees and in make-shift huts without access to safe drinking water and in urgent need of health care and food. All along the road connecting Mogadishu and Afgoye, small groups are settling in the open, cut off from any assistance.

International Medical Corps teams have found that there are no latrines for the majority of the displaced, increasing the risk of a cholera outbreak. Children in particular suffer from acute watery diarrhea, malaria, malnutrition, and respiratory tract infections. IMC is one of two international NGOs providing health services for IDPs in Afgoye, where the needs of the rapidly growing displaced community have far outstripped existing capacities.

Most of those recently arrived in Afgoye had been trapped between the factions fighting for power in Somalia's capital Mogadishu. However leaving the capital does not necessarily mean an escape from violence; the road to Afgoye is extremely dangerous with armed robbers attacking civilians and even aid workers. Attacks within the camps are rife as well. Hawa Abdi, who runs a private health practice in Afgoye, says she treated 65 displaced women who had been raped over the past two months. "Treatment for women who have been raped and ongoing protection needs of IDPs, especially the most vulnerable, must urgently be addressed," said Mweki.

Speaking during a one-day visit to Somalia, United Nations Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes, called for more help for Somalia. "There has been a response but we need to do more," Holmes said, acknowledging that pervasive crime and ongoing fighting has made it difficult for aid agencies working in Somalia.

"There has been a lot of violence," says Mweki, "and we must prepare ourselves for a long-term response to the crisis. I spoke to many displaced people in Afgoye, but none of them wanted to return to Mogadishu."

A staggering one million people are currently displaced inside Somalia. The UNHCR says that sixty percent of Mogadishu's population, or about 600,000 people, have left the lawless capital since fighting intensified beginning in February 2007. Nearly 200,000 have been displaced over the last two weeks alone. The UN has discovered high rates of malnutrition among displaced Somalis. According to the results of a nutrition assessment conducted by the Food Security Analysis Unit (FSAU) in Lower Shabelle region in November 2007, 45,000 children under five are acutely malnourished, and 8,500 are severely malnourished. Without special care and nutritional support these children are at a high risk of dying.

Since its inception in 1984, International Medical Corps' mission has been clear: Relieve the suffering of those affected by war, natural disaster and disease, by delivering vital health care services that focus on training. Passing on essential skills that help people help themselves is critical if those hit by tragedy are to return to self-reliance. IMC has received a four-star rating for four consecutive years by Charity Navigator, America's premier independent charity evaluator.