The Danish Refugee Council can now intensify its relief efforts in and around Mogadishu, the Somali capital, where the famine worsens by the day. Over 100,000 people depend upon the DRC providing a meal each day, therefore the Danish Refugee Council has now received a total of 40 million Danish kronor from Danida, the EU and the British Government.

The Danish Refugee Council is one of the few international humanitarian organizations that have been able to provide relief in the Somali capital Mogadishu over the past three years. Every day the DRC feeds over 100,000 refugees in and outside of Mogadishu with meals prepared on mobile soup kitchens.

That is one of the reasons why the Danish Refugee Council has just received 10 million Danish kronor from DANIDA, which in addition to 30 million Danish kronor from the EU's humanitarian office, ECHO and the UK Government, DFID, and collected funds from the Danish population, makes it possible to strengthen the Danish Refugee Council’s relief efforts in Somalia.

"The situation in southern Somalia is desperate. Our people in Mogadishu report that the lines of starving people at the soup kitchens just grow and grow. The extra donations enable us to provide far more meals, "says Ann Mary Olsen, International Director of the Danish Refugee Council, who is travelling to Mogadishu next week to follow the relief efforts closely.

The funds from DANIDA is mainly going to be used to provide more daily meals to even more people, but also to hand out cash relief, enabling the needy people to buy their own food.

"One of the many major problems in Somalia is that people have lost their livelihoods while the price of food has risen dramatically - partly because of the prolonged drought. Consequently, fewer and fewer can afford to buy food", says Mary Ann Olsen.

Danish Refugee Council works as one of the largest international humanitarian organizations in Somalia and the Horn of Africa aiming at increasing relief efforts further and thereby reaching more people.

 

Related News:

 More humanitarian aid needed in Mogadishu - 18-08-11 13:45

 Somalia: Working in High-risk Environment and Fragile States - 08-08-11 09:39

 UN declares famine in Somalia - 20-07-11 09:20

 Helping more people in Mogadishu - 19-07-11 14:19

 Somalia: On the brink of disaster - 01-07-11 11:58

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