Somalia.

• Position: Includes related article on Somalian floods - Civilian protection program

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on 12 January launched a $1.2-million project to protect civilians in Somalia, which was to set the stage for an extensive three-year civilian protection programme involving demining, the reintegration of ex-militia into society and the strengthening of law enforcement. The chief goal of the programme was to promote the country's social and economic recovery by re-establishing a secure and stable environment.

The World Food Programme (WFP) on 10 February appealed for $17 million to maintain deliveries of food and other vital supplies to flood victims in Kenya and Somalia. The appeal to the international donor community was for funding airdrops to help more than 1 million people in flooded areas that were inaccessible by road. The flooding killed more than 1,980 people and affected hundreds of thousands of others. The new appeal covered the cost of delivering food, materials for shelter, medicines, water purifying substances and other relief assistance for more than 650,000 Somalis and 390,000 Kenyans.

In a separate appeal, WFP sought more than $2 million to airlift food to 125,000 refugees in the camps at Dadaab in northeast Kenya.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on 10 February launched an appeal for $2.5 million to fight livestock diseases. The combined effects of flooding and livestock diseases recently killed tens of thousands of animals in northeastern Kenya and southern Somalia. FAO predicted that it would lead to milk shortages in areas where crops were devastated by floods. In addition to being linked to death...