United Nations Radio

A World Food Programme worker was killed at a school in Southern Somalia.

WFP: security is vital

The 44-year-old Somali national had worked for WFP since 2006 and he is the third staff member to be killed in Somalia since August 2008. Five WFP-contracted drivers were also killed last year. Gerry Adams talked with WFP Spokesman Peter Smerdon in Nairobi, who explains what happened:

Smerdon: This morning in a tragic event, three masked gunman came into a school in a small village about 6 kilometers from the Gedo region -- the capital is Gabahari -- they walked in and our WFP food monitor Ibrahim Hussein Duale was sitting down when they walked in. They approached him while he was seated, ordered him to stand up and then shot him dead.

Gerry: What reason would they have to kill him Mr. Duale?

Smerdon: We don't know. They were masked so we can't identify who they were. There have been, however, particularly in the first half of 2008, a series of attacks mainly on Somali NGO workers but also UN staff in Somalia which seemed to be part of a deliberate attempt to sabotage the whole humanitarian response to the crisis in Somalia. So it may be related to those killing in 2008, which are continuing or it may be a completely different matter. WFP is of course investigating what might be behind this attack.

Gerry: People must be afraid to do humanitarian work after something like this happens.

Smerdon: Yes they are increasingly afraid. I mean basically a number of NGOs, Somali NGOs on which the United Nations depends to deliver humanitarian assistance in Somalia, have stopped work in various areas where there have been killing. WFP itself has suffered. He is the third WFP staff member killed in Somalia since August 2008, plus five WFP contracted transport staff were killed in Somalia last year. It does make doing our job a lot more difficult and risky. We are committed to working in Somalia and of course call on all parties to allow us to do our job, which is simply providing food to feed hungry people at this very critical time for Somalia.

Gerry: And what is the situation of Somali people at this point?

Smerdon: It is extremely dire. I mean basically in 2008 the situation steadily deteriorated until a total of 3.25 million people -- and that's 43 per cent of the entire population of Somalia -- were in need of humanitarian assistance. Three point one million of them need food assistance and this crisis is continuing and probably deteriorating because of the problems caused by increasing insecurity as the Ethiopians are withdrawing.

Gerry: And in spite of this more than a million people have been feed by WFP. How does the organization do it?

Smerdon: Well it is very difficult. We rely very much on our Somali staff. We have to be very flexible. We have to at times pull out of areas, where there is fighting or conflict between clans or sub clans. But then we return and we do a security assessment. We try and inform the Somali people, everyone in Somalia repeatedly, that we are an impartial humanitarian operation, we are not involved in politics, we are simply helping the poorest of the poor who are suffering greatly at this time and need food assistance and other humanitarian assistance to survive. It does mean that we are not quite reaching the target that we need to feed every month but we are feeding more than 1.5 million, and we hope to increase that but to increase that we need security. We need these attacks to stop, and we need all parties in Somalia to recognize that humanitarian assistance is precisely that, and aid works should be helped rather than killed.

PRES: World Food Programme Spokesman Peter Smerdon was interviewed by UN Radio's Gerry Adams.

(duration: 3'55")