WFP pullout, danger add to UNICEF's Somalia costs

By Olesya Dmitracova

LONDON (Reuters) - Greater insecurity and the suspension of work by the U.N. World Food Programme in much of southern Somalia are forcing UNICEF to spend more money in the country just as the body is grappling with a severe funding gap.

About six months ago, the U.N. children's fund stopped storing supplies in war-torn Somalia after its compound was looted and violence worsened, Hannan Sulieman, UNICEF's deputy representative there, said on Friday.

UNICEF -- one of the largest aid agencies in Somalia where a third of the population depends on humanitarian aid -- has since been moving food, vaccines and medicines from the country's ports directly to the aid agencies it works with for distribution.

"It's more expensive and it takes more time," Sulieman, normally based in Nairobi, told Reuters AlertNet in an interview in London.

The costs of transporting supplies safely and protecting staff have doubled to about a fifth of the fund's overall expenses on Somalia, which include the cost of goods.

UNICEF has also had to take over a supplementary nutritional programme aimed at preventing more severe forms of childhood malnutrition, which can become a life-threatening condition.

The scheme was run by the World Food Programme (WFP) until January when the body pulled out from southern Somalia because of threats against its staff and because Islamist rebel group al Shabaab was demanding payments for security.

"We may need more funding for that programme. If that's the case, then in June this year we will revise our appeal (for funds)," Sulieman said.