UN Bill Would Restrict U.S. Response to the Horn of Africa Crisis

The situation is particularly acute in conflict stricken Somalia, where an estimated 750,000 people, many of them children, are facing a potential death sentence. The famine has created a severe refugee crisis—more than 910,000 Somali refugees are currently registered in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti, with the Dadaab refugee camps in northern Kenya alone swelling to a population of over 400,000 because of the crisis. We have seen the disturbing images of the worst drought-induced famine to hit the Horn of Africa in 50 years in the news. Moved by these scenes of unimaginable suffering, the world has come together under the auspices of the United Nations to confront the crisis head-on and deliver much-needed humanitarian aid to the people of Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti.
Unfortunately, in spite of the many benefits of the UN’s work in the Horn of Africa and across the globe, Congress is contemplating legislation that could severely curtail U.S. engagement at the world body. Today, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs will consider legislation that would cut 50% of U.S. funding to the UN, including the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS) which coordinates all UN activities in Somalia, including critical work to establish lasting peace and stability. The bill could also potentially restrict funding to key UN humanitarian agencies like the World Food Program (WFP), UNICEF, and the World Health Organization. This legislation, would effectively pull the rug out from under the UN system, dramatically reduce U.S. influence, and potentially curtail UN operations at a time when the UN is at the forefront of responding to humanitarian crises around the globe.
We cannot address the crisis facing the Horn of Africa today alone. The challenges are too complex, the scope of the tragedy too large, and the sheer amount of aid required too great for any one country to shoulder the full burden. That is why the work of the United Nations is so critical towards advancing American interests and ensuring a robust, coordinated response to this disaster.
Renowned economist and Nobel prize winner Amartya Sen once observed, “droughts are natural phenomena, but famines are man-made.” Nowhere is this more true than in Somalia. The UN office in Somalia is seeking a political solution to end the stranglehold that al-Shabaab holds over the country and allow for aid groups to freely help the Somali people. After years of neglect, this failed state has now manifested itself as the epicenter of a famine of historic proportions, and that has only exacerbated the instability caused by the piracy that finds it base in Somalia. Now, because of the UN, the U.S. shoulders less than a quarter of the burden for the important political work necessary help Somalia and other countries, like Iraq and Afghanistan. We can’t afford to abandon that effort now.
From the very outset of the crisis, the UN has taken the lead in coordinating the global humanitarian response, providing desperately needed food, shelter, medical care, and other forms of aid to Somali refugees and millions of others affected by the drought and famine. In spite of the significant challenges to its work in the region—including shortfalls in funding from donor governments (as of September, only 63% of the UN’s appeal for aid to the Horn of Africa was funded) and threats to the safety of its employees from al-Qaeda aligned Somali militants—UN agencies and programs are playing an absolutely indispensable role in efforts to ameliorate the effects of hunger and disease in the region.
The World Food Program, for example, is currently providing life-saving food aid to 7.4 million people in the drought-ravaged region, and is working to scale-up its operations in order to reach an additional 3.5 million people. Over the last several months, WFP has airlifted food into Mogadishu to assist tens of thousands of Somalis from famine-afflicted regions, provided school meals to help keep Somali refugee children in northern Kenya healthy and in the classroom, and provided significant quantities of a highly fortified peanut butter-like paste that acts as a lifesaver for children under the age of two. WFP has the technical expertise needed to deliver food aid and save lives, but is currently facing a shortfall of $215 million.
Other UN agencies are also stepping up to aid the victims of this crisis. As the Somali refugee population in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti has swelled to historic proportions in recent months, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has worked to provide emergency shelter and nutritional assistance to new arrivals and is working to relieve overcrowding in the region’s largest refugee camps—the Dadaab camps in Kenya and the Dollo Ado camps in Ethiopia. In addition, as widespread hunger and displacement increases the risk of disease, the World Health Organization (WHO), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and non-UN partners are working to vaccinate nearly 215,000 children under the age of five along Kenya’s border with Somalia against measles and polio.
The UN’s humanitarian efforts in the Horn are not only saving lives—they are also saving American taxpayers money. A significant portion of the U.S. response is provided through UN agencies, and by leveraging the financial resources of other UN Member States we are able to maximize our impact on the ground.
Our health and nutritional interventions are having a significant impact. In Ethiopia, enhanced health and nutrition interventions at the Dollo Ado refugee complex have resulted in a notable decline in mortality. In addition, supplementary and therapeutic feeding programs administered by the UN and its partners have reduced the malnutrition rate among children in the camp from 50% two months ago to 35% today. While conditions remain dire throughout the region and these numbers remain far too high, they nevertheless provide hope that through aggressive, coordinated action, the international community, working through the UN, can help ease the suffering of the millions of people who currently find themselves in the middle of this crisis.
Given the numerous challenges the U.S. and its international partners face around the globe, now is not the time to sacrifice American leadership by slashing funding to the UN. I hope my colleagues will recognize the benefits of strong U.S. engagement with the UN and defeat this misguided bill.
Congressman Donald M. Payne is Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights. He represents the 10th district of New Jersey.