The sound of a crying child is a sign of hope in a crowded displacement camp in southern Somalia — the most malnourished children are too weak to even cry.
For the mothers in the Ladan camp in the town of Dollow, survival is the only thing on their minds — not the Iran war or how UNICEF gets the supplies to keep the place running. The displaced here have fled the drought that has ravaged swaths of this Horn of Africa nation after four failed rain seasons.
Their crops and livestock devastated, they show up at the camp, often with nothing but their children.
Aid workers at Ladan say the raging war in the Middle East — more than 3,000 kilometers (1,800 miles) away — has made their work harder, disrupting supplies and sending fuel costs soaring. UNICEF says it has $15.7 million worth of lifesaving supplies — including therapeutic food, vaccines, and mosquito nets — in transit or being prepared for delivery to Somalia. But those shipments now are uncertain.
Transport costs could rise by 30% to 60%, and even double on some routes, while delays caused by rerouting and backlog become more likely, the U.N. agency says.
During a visit to Dollow on Wednesday, Catherine Russell, UNICEF’s executive director, said the Iran war has been a “shock to the system” for the agency’s work on the ground in Somalia.
