GENEVA (AlertNet) - Somalia is the world's most worrying humanitarian crisis both because of the scale of need and the limited scope for relief due to insecurity, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Wednesday.
The ICRC has been present in the Horn of Africa nation since 1982, but has had to work to a large extent "under a remote control mechanism", ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger said.
Anarchy and chaos in Somalia mean the ICRC has to run its operation there from neighbouring Kenya, with close contacts to its local Red Crescent affiliate and other aid organisations.
"If I had to choose one context which I'm mostly worried about in humanitarian terms but also worried about (in terms of) the limited possibilities for humanitarians to do their job, it's clearly Somalia," Kellenberger told a news conference where he presented the ICRC's annual report.
Somalia has been deprived of an effective central government and mired in violence since warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
More than 40 percent of the population - 3.4 million people - require humanitarian assistance, including 1.4 million uprooted by a three-year insurgency waged by Islamist rebels.
Despite the acute needs, aid agencies have been forced to cut back operations after threats by the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels which control much of Mogadishu and large parts of central and southern Somalia.
The ICRC used its latest report to highlight the range of problems caused by protracted conflicts from short-term needs such as food, water and shelter to long-term issues such as a deterioration of health services.
Kellenberger said it was crucial that humanitarian groups more used to dealing with emergencies widened the scope of their assistance and planned for the long haul.
"There's a lot of work for development agencies but often development agencies are not going into these (places) because it is not secure enough for them ... so it's very often up to the humanitarians to be more engaged in this rehabilitation which goes well beyond what you would understand as an emergency action," Kellenberger told AlertNet before the conference.
"For a long time, the discussion was very much focused on exit strategies of humanitarians but I think it has to be accompanied by a discussion about entry strategies of development and other actors. You have to make sure that there are no gaps between an emergency and a pre-development situation," he added.
"HUMANITARIAN SPACE"
The softly spoken Swiss diplomat also stressed the importance of ICRC principles of independence, neutrality and dialogue with all parties in a conflict as well as a commitment to be there for the long term, which he said had enabled the organisation to be present in Taliban-controlled areas of Afghanistan.
"To build trust takes time, you don't build trust in the short-term. You only build trust if you are coherent and predictable. If you are changing the angle according to time and context you won't build trust," he said in an interview.
Kellenberger saw no improvement in the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan where suicide bombers launched a pre-dawn attack on Wednesday on one of the biggest NATO military bases there, killing an American contractor.
He recognised the concerns of many aid workers about the impact of military forces delivering humanitarian aid in countries like Afghanistan but said aid delivery was of paramount importance.
"That confusion can be a restrictive element in the humanitarian space but I think it's really not something one should overdo or exaggerate. I think it does make sense that humanitarian action is left to humanitarians if they are able to provide humanitarian assistance. But if they are not able to do it, it is much better that the military do it than nobody else."
The ICRC spent $977 million last year on relief projects including those in Iraq, Sudan, Pakistan and Afghanistan which consumed a third of the ICRC's budget.
Globally it operated water, sanitation and construction projects that helped 14.2 million people and provided medical supplies to hospitals and clinics treating 5.6 million people.
Last year, it visited 1,890 places of detention holding more than 479,000 detainees in 74 countries.
Despite the global economic slowdown, Kellenberger said the organisation, widely known as the Red Cross, faced no difficulties raising money to fund its activities.
"In spite of a budget which is on average about 30 percent higher on a yearly basis compared to the 1990s we do not have a problem of financial support," he said at the press conference.
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