On his way to Kampala, Uganda, to attend the African Union summit in the city, Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle announced a further increase of one million euro in emergency aid for Somalia, bringing total aid this year for the country to 2.7 million euro.

The money will be channelled to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to provide food, drinking water, medicine and emergency shelter for groups particularly at risk.

Continuing armed clashes have led to a further deterioration in the humanitarian situation, especially in the area of Mogadishu. This year alone over 200,000 people have been forced to flee their homes. Most have sought shelter in refugee camps; others have attempted to reach neighbouring countries. This country in the Horn of Africa has been in a state of humanitarian crisis for years. The endemic fighting combined with an unusually severe drought has meant there are now 1.4 million internally displaced persons in the country as well as an estimated 3.8 million in need of humanitarian aid.

The ICRC is among the few humanitarian organizations still able to operate in Somalia. Working in a difficult security environment, it provides basic relief supplies to particularly vulnerable groups such as the injured or internally displaced.

The Federal Foreign Office’s humanitarian aid for Somalia now stands at 2.7 million euro for 2010. Over the past three years the German Government has made available over 30 million euro in humanitarian assistance for the country.

For more information on the humanitarian assistance provided by the Federal Foreign Office please consult: