Pick of the week: re-thinking the Horn of Africa crisis

Media attention has begun to ease on the Horn of Africa, but there are signs that food production in Somalia will be damaged for another year as a result of the crisis. Furthermore, the beginning of Kenyan military operations in Somalia has slowed down the distribution of vital humanitarian aid. The prospect of a food crisis in West Africa now looms on the horizon.

It is near-impossible to conceptualise the implications and lived experiences of humanitarian disasters such as these. For this pick of the week, Channel 16 highlights some aides to do so.

1. ‘Somalia Speaks‘

Al Jazeera English has begun a “project to record and promote unheard Somali voices from inside Somalia”. Somali citizens are being given the chance to respond via text message to the question, “How has the Somalia conflict affected your life?” Read the responses here (scroll down and click ‘Reports’).

2. ‘Visualising the Horn of Africa Crisis‘

The Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has released a series of colourful maps that chart the development of food crisis in the Horn of Africa in an unusual way. Tools like this underline the scale of suffering experienced, but also engage readers to act to prevent further crises such as these in the future. Check out the maps here.

3. ‘Ongoing support is crucial‘

Mark Bowden, U.N. Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for Somalia, talks about the relief from drought that the seasonal rains have brought to Somalia. However, read his piece on the long-term support that the international community must continue to deliver throughout 2012.