New York Times examines international response to Somali famine

Sep 17 2011

"Twenty years after the central government collapsed," Somalia is facing drought, food insecurity and conflict larger in scale than when famine conditions hit the nation in the 1990s, "[a]nd given the world's limited interest in a major intervention, that is not likely to change anytime soon," the New York Times reports in a news analysis on the situation.

The article contrasts interventions undertaken by the international community in the 1990s with actions currently underway, and examines how response systems have changed over two decades.  But "[s]oon, the rains will start pounding down, [and] before any crops will grow, disease will bloom. Malaria, cholera, typhoid and measles will sweep through immune-suppressed populations, aid agencies say, killing countless malnourished people," the New York Times writes (Gettleman, 9/15).