The United Nations has declared parts of southern Somalia to be in a state of famine, as the country struggles to cope with a drought that has affected more than 10 million people in the Horn of Africa. But international aid efforts may be complicated because of the Islamic terrorist organization Al-Shabaab, which controls sections of southern Somalia and has in the past restricted access to the region. Paul Weisenfeld, assistant to the administrator for USAID’s Bureau for Food Security – which leads implementation of the U.S. government’s Feed the Future initiative – discusses the implications of the U.N. declaration and the challenges that face international aid organizations in gaining access to southern Somalia.
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