Gearing up to deliver ‘unprecedented quantities’ of aid in the Horn of Africa

The eyes of the world are turned to the Horn of Africa, where a humanitarian disaster threatens the survival of millions. With famine declared in five areas in southern Somalia – and the United Nations warning that it could quickly spread – UNICEF’s Operations Centre, or OPSCEN, is playing a critical role in the agency’s crisis response. Report by By Chris Niles

VIDEO: UNICEF correspondent Chris Niles reports on the critical work carried out by UNICEF’s Operations Centre during major emergencies.

“Across Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, an estimated 2.3 million children are already acutely malnourished,” says OPSCEN Deputy Manager Paul Fiszman. “To save lives, the international community must act immediately. UNICEF is gearing up its logistics to deliver unprecedented quantities of life-saving aid across the Horn.”

Based at UNICEF headquarters in New York, OPSCEN works to ensure a well-informed response to any humanitarian need. It is staffed 25 hours a day, every day, monitoring key developments that affect children’s well-being around the world.

These developments include diverse indicators such as armed conflict, social unrest, weather conditions and food prices

Survival strategies

“We’re the eyes and the ears of the organization,” says Mr. Fiszman, “Our role is to be watching the world, to be looking out for any developments that could affect staff security or children in our programmes.”

The role becomes even more important when tragedy strikes. The Horn of Africa provides unique logistical challenges because it is spread across several countries, and because so many people are on the move. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis, fleeing famine, have sought shelter in refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia. And those camps’ resources are stretched beyond their limits.

“One of the survival strategies of families and of communities is to move. It is very important that UNICEF track population movements so we can deliver life-saving aid where it is most needed,” noted Mr. Fiszman.

A lifeline in emergencies

At the same time, OPSCEN must do all it can to ensure the safety of more than 13,000 staff worldwide. Staff security is of particular concern in the Horn of Africa, as Somalia is riven by violence.

“OPSCEN is on call 24/7 to provide support to UNICEF staff,” Mr. Fiszman said, adding that the centre “is a lifeline for UNICEF colleagues, particularly those working in unstable environments.

On days when humanitarian disasters are not dominating the news headlines, OPSCEN looks at longer-term trends and issues reports analyzing everything from politics to climate change. Its role in providing straightforward geopolitical analysis is essential to UNICEF – because children’s lives are inexorably linked to social, political, economic and environmental conditions.

Life and death

But in the coming weeks, providing the best information to UNICEF leaders who are deciding where and when to deploy aid in the Horn of Africa will be a matter of life and death.

“Time is of the essence,” said Mr. Fiszman. “Children are dying every day.”