[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 133 (Friday, September 9, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1588]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          ADDRESSING THE HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCY IN EAST AFRICA

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 9, 2011

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, good afternoon. Two months ago, 
this Subcommittee held a hearing on Somalia that revealed the extent of 
the suffering from what witnesses agreed was the worst drought in the 
Horn of Africa since the 1950s. Our hearing today is, in part, a 
follow-up to that July 7th hearing in order to examine the U.S. Agency 
for International Development's long-term strategy to address 
humanitarian crises in East Africa, such as the current devastating 
drought. The need for this continued focus on the region is apparent 
given the ongoing, disturbing reports that we are receiving about 
Sudanese attacks on its Blue Nile State that will drive residents into 
South Sudan and reports of theft of international food aid.
   We now know that an estimated 13.1 million people are in need of 
urgent humanitarian assistance. The United States to date has devoted a 
total of $604.6 million in humanitarian assistance funding for the Horn 
of Africa. At the same time, our government has devoted $370.7 million 
in Fiscal Year 2011 to helping the newly independent Government of 
South Sudan respond to crises largely caused by Republic of the Sudan 
attacks that have sent people streaming into this young nation.
  The drought in East Africa apparently is part of a persistent weather 
trend in the region, but there is disagreement on the extent to which 
the La Nina and El Nino weather phenomena will affect weather patterns 
in East Africa over time. The current La Nina phenomenon, which began 
in August 2010, results in wetter than normal conditions in Australia 
and parts of Asia from December to February and drier than normal 
conditions over equatorial East Africa over the same period, leading to 
the current drought in the region.
  But while drought is one reason for food shortages, it is exacerbated 
by stagnating agricultural development and unsustainable forms of 
livelihood. In our July 7th hearing, Nancy E. Lindborg, Assistant 
Administrator in the U.S. Agency for International Development's Bureau 
for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, raised the issue 
of the long-term need for changes in livelihoods in the region. She 
quoted a local cattle herder as saying, ``We are seeing the end of the 
pastoral lifestyle as we know it.''
  In countries across the region, as Lindborg testified, nomads are 
without water and pasture and unable to migrate safely. Many of them 
are left without assets or income, and as they migrate out of rural 
areas to urban areas, they strain an already stressed situation.
  There are nomads in Africa from Western Sahara to Sudan. If weather 
conditions have conspired to end what in some cases are livelihoods 
developed over millennia, who will work with these pastoralists to 
develop new ways of surviving? Part of our humanitarian strategy, 
therefore, must involve working with African governments on developing 
viable strategies for helping nomads transition into new livelihoods 
that fit their skills and are sustainable in often resource-poor 
conditions. In the long run, donors will be increasingly less likely to 
continue to support people suffering through repeated droughts in the 
same areas. We must break this cycle now and help them to find durable 
solutions for the future.
  In Somalia, the hardest hit country in the region, the terrorist 
group al-Shabaab has obstructed the delivery of humanitarian assistance 
and directly threatened aid agencies. It has also interrogated aid 
workers and accused them of spying for the West or proselytizing. 
Maritime piracy and the hijacking of aid shipments have also hindered 
the provision of aid. By late 2009, threats against humanitarian 
workers and attacks against aid compounds had driven many international 
groups out of al-Shabaab-controlled areas; most of the remaining groups 
left southern Somalia in 2010. The result has been an estimated 2.2 
million people in southern Somalia, representing some 60% of those who 
remain in the country, in need of aid but currently out of reach of 
most aid agencies.
  We face serious questions about how to meet the desperate needs of 
people like those living in areas controlled by al-Shabaab. We want to 
prevent terrorist organizations from benefitting from humanitarian aid, 
but we must balance this concern with our desire to keep alive those 
needing food, water and medicine. There has to be a solution that not 
only prevents aid from going to terrorists, but also prevents the 
terrorists from perpetrating further violence against their own people 
by denying them access to life-saving assistance.
  Meanwhile, our government is helping the new Government of South 
Sudan to effectively respond to the expectations of the population for 
essential services and improved livelihoods, as well as containing the 
conflicts that are likely to erupt. This new government is learning to 
handle the normal business of establishing a government even as an 
estimated 371,455 people have migrated from the North to South Sudan, 
as well as to Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan States in the Republic of 
the Sudan and the disputed area of Abyei since October 30th of last 
year.
  Apparently continuing attacks in Southern Kordofan and now Blue Nile 
State will only continue the flight of thousands of people into South 
Sudan. Given its troubled relationship with the Republic of the Sudan 
to the North, our assistance to the new government must build its 
capacity as a democratically elected institution and help enable it to 
avoid and address such crises. Empowerment should be our focus as we 
help this new government take its place among the world's nations.
  Drought and other natural disasters and man-made catastrophes due to 
conflict have been a persistent story in East Africa. In an era of 
limited resources, we must encourage adapted lifestyles, develop 
strategies for delivering aid in conflict areas and enable our partner 
governments to manage crises more successfully. We look forward to 
hearing from our distinguished witnesses as to how we can move toward 
achieving these goals.

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