MSF is Denied Access to Drought-Affected Areas

Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)

8 June 2011

After weeks of negotiation, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says it has been blocked last April by the local authorities from conducting emergency medical activities in Buurhakaba district in the Bay region of South Central Somalia, where drought affected population needed nutritional support and clean water.

MSF’s planned emergency response included water trucking, nutrition screening for

children under the age of five, and food distribution for malnourished children.

However, the authorities have not allowed MSF to access the area.

Buurhakaba district is highly populated, with estimated 125 000 people. At the

moment, there is no other actor providing nutrition support to this population.

MSF is an independent medical organization with projects in eight regions of Somalia. Over 1,500 Somali staff, supported by approximately 100 staff in Nairobi, provide primary health care, malnutrition treatment, health care and support to displaced people, surgery, and water and relief supply distributions in some locations.

MSF offers assistance to people based only on need, irrespective of race, religion, gender, political or clan affiliation.

MSF does not accept any government funding for its projects in Somalia, all its funding comes from private donors.

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