The combination of war, drought, and the global economic crisis have left the world's most vulnerable populations exposed as never before.

Over the past year, the ICRC has repeatedly had to offer humanitarian assistance to meet the basic needs of millions of people in the countries worst affected by this catastrophic confluence of events.

The world's poorest households are usually forced to spend most of their incomes on food but the rise in commodity prices and a global economic crisis layered on crop failure and regional conflict, have left the poorest even more vulnerable.

In Afghanistan and Somalia the situation is particularly severe. The ICRC has carried out massive distributions of food in both countries this year and says much more will need to be done this coming 12 months to avoid catastrophic shortages.

In Afghanistan this winter, the worst drought in a decade, rising commodity prices and decades of conflict could force thousands of people from their homes in search of work and food.

A villager from Kunduz in Khanabad district, northern Afghanistan says, "We don’t have enough food to survive this winter.”

The ICRC estimates that food shortages currently affect more than a third of the Afghan population. In less than a year, the price of flour alone has doubled in some areas so for large numbers of people it will be virtually impossible to buy enough food over the coming months.

The ICRC and Afghan Red Crescent Society have together distributed 500 truckloads of food to around 280,000 people in remote provinces in the north and north west of the country before November but the outlook is bleak.

The villager from Kunduz continues, "Last night we only had a piece of bread, warmed up,with a glass of tea."

In Somalia, hundreds of thousands of people face life-threatening food shortages because of the escalating armed conflict and the effects of severe drought in central and southern regions.

Patricia Danzi, ICRC, Adviser to the Director of Operations, "The food crisis affects the most vulnerable, the ones living on the edge with no safety net."

The ICRC has seen a major deterioration in the humanitarian situation in Somalia. The chronic nature of the crisis has completely exhausted people's coping abilities.

Harera, a resident of Dunay, Galgadud region in central Somalia says, "We need rice, beans. We have nothing. We have no animals as they all died. We don’t have farming land. … we are struggling to feed our children."

Already this year, the ICRC has distributed food rations to more than half a million Somalis over four months. It now plans to distribute dry-food rations to a further 435,000 people in central and southern areas. This is almost triple the 2007 ICRC food aid programme for Somalia.

The funds being sought in the Emergency Appeal on November 27^th reflect the ICRC’S concern that there is no prospect of an improvement in the short-term outlook for many hard-hit communities. The projected budget is based on assessments made by the ICRC's experts working in the field in conflict-affected countries round the world. ICRC budgets derived through this process tend to be highly accurate. ICRC Head of Operations, Pierre Kraehenbuehl, is confident that donors will continue to support the organisation despite the difficult economic climate, confirming, "We will go every mile to secure the funding that allows us to respond to those people affected."
Key Facts and Figures:

ICRC BUDGET 2009

• The projected field budget for 2009 at Chf 996.9 million is the highest since 2000 and nearly 7 percent more than 2008.
• Nearly Chf 220 million in programming designed to provide economic security will be allocated next year, an increase of 13 percent compared to 2008.
• The total amount to be spent on community assistance programming – food security, health, water and sanitation in 2008 will be approximately Chf 547 million, an increase of 12 percent.

• The ICRC estimates a two million metric tonne shortage of food in Afghanistan this year.
• It's estimated 35 percent of the population is affected by food shortages.(fig from the British Red Cross)
• Before November the ICRC and Afghan Red Crescent Society distributed 5,000 metric tonnes of food to 280,000 people in eight districts in the northern and north-western provinces of Kunduz, Galkh, Faryab and Badghis.
• In many areas the cost of flour has doubled in the past year.
• Because of the increases in global food prices, key regional food exporters have banned exports, further restricting the flow of food into Afghanistan.
SOMALIA
• Hundreds of thousands of Somalis face life-threatening food shortages because of the escalating armed conflict and the effects of severe drought in central and southern areas.
• In coming weeks, the ICRC is planning to distribute dry-food rations to 435,000 people.
• Additionally, more than 11,000 displaced people will receive essential household items such as blankets, shelter materials, clothes and kitchen sets.
• Already this year the ICRC has delivered dry-food rations for up to four months to nearly half a million people.
• A further 75,000 people forced to leave their homes have received household items and shelter materials
• The ICRC has trucked more than 270 million litres of water to almost half a million pastoralists and their livestock
• At the same time the ICRC continues to maintain and improve wells, bore holes, private water reservoirs and rainwater catchments.
• ICRC water projects have ensured that around 180,000 people have continued to have access to water and by the end of the year a further 140,000 should have benefited from similar operations.

Date and Location: October 2008 , Northern Afghanistan, Khanabad district, Kunduz; Central Somalia, Kedye camp, Galgadud region
Sound: Natural, English, French, Dari , Somali speech
Source: ICRC/British Red Cross – Access all
Length 9'57"
Afghanistan

00:00 Wide shot of man on camel, people walking down a dusty road

00:16 Donkey…men waiting for food distribution

00:22 A crowd of women and children sitting waiting for the distribution

00:28 ICRC vehicles travelling down a dry river bed, arriving at the village

00:46 Men arriving for the distribution

01:00 Sacks being taken out of the trucks

01:11 Names being ticked off the distribution list

01:17 Villager(interviewee) stepping forward to get his ticket

01:27 Sound bite (Dari)..local villager
"We don’t have enough food to survive this winter."

"I plan to go as a labourer to Kunduz, Halabad in order to earn money and to do some farming over there so I can get some fodde.:"

01:46 People receiving food and loading it into a van

01:57 Various shots of people with their rations

02:07 Close-up of young girls

02:14 Villager(interviewee) loading food sacks onto his donkey

02:20 Villager(interviewee) going home with donkey loaded with food sacks

02:39 Unloading the donkey at his house

02:43 Checking the food and weighing beans

02:54 Shots of the interviewee's family..various

03:05 Girl lighting cooking fire

03:09 Sound bite (Dari) ..villager
"Last night we only had a piece of bread, warmed up, with a glass of tea."
" All of the family just got small pieces of it, so we could pass the night quietly."
"This year there's been no rain, just drought. Whatever we had, we sowed but we did not get any harvest. So, I don’t even know where my son has gone for work. I am waiting for him to return and bring something back from wherever he is working."
"For next year, we believe in God, and we wait for the government and the International Committee of the Red Cross to do something. And we pray to God for rain, for a few drops of rain, so that we can farm the land again."

03:58 The family gathered together outside the house
Somalia

04:02 Camels being watered and tended by boys

04:08 Wide shot with boy in foreground and camels behind

04:13 Women waiting for the distribution

04:17 Patricia talking with the women…four shots

04:27 Sound bite,(English) ..Patricia Danzi, ICRC, Adviser to the Director of Operations
"In Somalia its not only drought, its also conflict. And the food crisis affects the most vulnerable, the ones that live on the edge with no safety net."

04:37 Cut away….close up young girl

04:41 Sound bite (English) Patricia Danzi, ICRC, Adviser to the Director of Operations
"Our response of the International Committee of the Red Cross to the food crisis is first and most of all to commit and to keep our commitment in fifty countries around the world where we have distributions of food and non food items and we do that despite the increase of fuel prices and food commodities."

05:00 People gathering for food distribution..various shots

05:42 Harera(Somali interviewee) collecting food

05:46 Harera and helpers take the food home

06:01 Harera and Patricia, family members are gathered at the front of house nursing baby

06:15 Sound bite (Somali) Harera (name)
"We need rice, beans. We have nothing. We have no animals as they all died. We don’t have farming land. We have had a very long drought . With the support of Allah and aid agencies we received food. Even the businessmen are now dependant on food aid. We are forced to stay here, hoping to receive assistance. The animals are not giving milk. We are struggling to feed our children."

07:27 Adults and children various shots.
Interview ICRC Head of Operations, Pierre Kraehenbuehl

English

07:48 The food crisis is having a major impact on defining the ICRC's budget in 2009. It's doing so because of the impact it's having on people affected in armed conflict and I think it's really easy to understand why that is the case. I mean people caught up in fighting, they've already lost much, either their homes, part of their families, are uncertain about what the future holds…sometimes have been caught up for many, many years already. And now we have the food crisis that comes in addition, reduces their livelihoods and limits their wellbeing and safety.
08:22 It's important to realise that the economic and financial crisis can have multiple effects including on the humanitarian organisations themselves but the first impact its having is on the people affected, further weakening them, further affecting their livelihoods, their well being, their security. And that’s what we're about, responding to those needs. And so we will go every mile and every extra mile we need, to secure the funding that allows us to respond to those people affected.
French

08:53 La crise alimentaire a un impact majeur sur le budget du CICR en 2009. Les raisons sont relativement simples : il faut s'imaginer des populations déjà affectée de façons diverses par des conflits armés, il y a des blessés, il y des personnes qui se déplacent à cause de l'intensité des combats. Et puis ensuite il y a la crise alimentaire qui fait que les populations deviennent encore plus vulnérables, qui ont encore moins de moyens de subsistance, leur sécurité est affectée
09:25 Donc il est important d'avoir en tête que la crise financière et la crise économique a de multiples effets, y compris sur les organisations humanitaires. Maintenant elle a d'abord des effets sur les populations affectées dans ces situations de conflits armés. Autrement dit elle a un impact sur des gens qui sont déjà très vulnérable aujourd'hui et qui voient leur situation s'aggraver. C'est à ça que le CICR veut répondre et donc on fera tous les efforts nécessaires pour mobiliser les moyens auprès des donateurs pour nous assurer qu'ils ont confiance dans ce que nous proposons pour pouvoir concrètement répondre aux besoins.
09:57 ENDS


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