Food distribution to displaced persons in the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia – There are more than 500,000 IDPs in Somalia, whose civilians have suffered over 15 years of conflict and a succession of natural disasters, including a severe drought and devastating floods in November-December 2006. The situation took a further turn for the worse at the end of December 2006, when the people of central and southern Somalia witnessed the heaviest fighting in a decade, resulting in hundreds of people killed and thousands more displaced. The ICRC has provided emergency relief, including drinking water and shelter, to over 500,000 Somalis since the beginning of the floods, in addition to some 300 water, health, agricultural and livelihood projects carried out year to year. Another major long-term ICRC activity in Somalia is tracing and reuniting families separated by the protracted conflict.