NAIROBI (Reuters) - Forty aid agencies urged the world on Wednesday to focus attention on Somalia's "catastrophic" humanitarian crisis where hundreds of thousands of people are suffering from war, drought and food shortages.
Their statement, issued by Oxfam, said Somalia now had onemillion internal refugees, their numbers swelled by an exodusof 20,000 a month from Mogadishu, where Islamist insurgents arefighting the Ethiopian-backed government.
Record high food prices, hyper-inflation and drought acrossthe Horn of Africa nation were exacerbating the situation andwill worsen if seasonal rains due from April fail as predicted.
"The crisis engulfing Somalia has deteriorated dramaticallywhile access to people in need continues to decrease," theagencies said, citing attacks on aid workers and looting ofsupplies.
Foreign aid workers are increasingly frustrated at the lackof attention to Somalia, which has suffered 17 years ofnear-incessant conflict since warlords toppled former militaryruler Mohamed Siad Barre.
In Africa, the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region hasovershadowed Somalia, even though some U.N. officials say thehumanitarian situation may be worse in Somalia.
"For too long, the needs of ordinary Somalis have beenforgotten," the agencies added.
"(We) ask the international community and all parties tothe conflict to urgently focus their attention on thecatastrophic humanitarian crisis in Somalia."
The 250,000 people camped in a small corridor betweenMogadishu and Afgoye to the west are now considered the largestgroup of internally displaced people in the world, thestatement said.
"According to (U.N. children's agency) UNICEF Somalia isthe worst place in the world for children. Approximately one inseven children under the age of five in Somalia are acutelymalnourished," it added.
(Reporting by Lisa Ntungicimpaye, Editing by AndrewCawthorne and Jon Boyle)
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