Somalia: Archive photographs showcase decades of ICRC humanitarian action

20-02-2013 Photo gallery

“Somalia: A Humanitarian Story” at the Royal Geographical Society in London highlights the resilience of ordinary Somalis through decades of conflict. The exhibition runs from 11 February to 15 March 2013. Here is a selection of images from the ICRC’s photographic archives that are not in the exhibition.

- Berbera, British Somaliland, May 1942.
  Italian civilians are loaded on to barges for the transfer to larger vessels on their journey home to Italy during World War II.
  © ICRC / v-p-hist-01625-05
- Berbera, Somaliland, 1991.
  Somalians expelled from Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) make a forced stop-over.
  © ICRC / v-p-so-d-00005-06
- Mogadishu, Somalia, 1991.
  The ICRC talks to all sides of a conflict wherever it works. This photo was taken in Mogadishu in 1991, when heavily armed fighters patrolled the streets and violence was rife.
  © ICRC / v-p-so-d-00009-19
- Berbera, Somaliland.
  A 100-bed surgical hospital operated by the ICRC and the Somali Red Crescent.
  © ICRC / v-p-so-d-00012-01
- Belet Uen, Ethiopian border, Somalia, 1993.
  The ICRC and the Somali Red Crescent distribute food from community kitchens.
  © ICRC / v-p-so-d-00026-23
- An internally displaced persons camp in Garowe, Puntland, 2011.
  A 24-year-old widow has recently arrived at the camp after travelling with her seven children, aged between 1 and 7 years, from drought-stricken Baidoa, part of the 'rural hunger zone.'
  © ICRC / v-p-so-e-00553
- Somalia, 1976.
  A health worker helps an injured patient at a Somali hospital. The ICRC has worked in Somalia since World War II.
  © ICRC / v-p-so-n-00002-28
- Garowe, Puntland, north-east Somalia, November 1992.
  An ICRC flying surgical team prepares to operate during the Somali Civil War.
  © ICRC / v-p-so-n-00077-19