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The Horn of Africa is primarily comprised of Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. During this century, this region became the land of famine, war, and disease. The Horn of Africa is considered to be one of the poorest regions in the world and because of natural disasters such as drought, and the ravages of war, the already deplorable conditions have worsened.
![]() Jaylani Hussein
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Final Call (FC): There is a humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa. Tell us a little about the region.
Jaylani Hussein (JH): The region tends to be one of the worst regions in the world, because of a lack of infrastructure, political unrest and if something happens, they have no support. A large percentage of the population is malnourished. They don’t have enough food and they don’t have a stable government.
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FC: When it comes to any humanitarian crisis, and money is donated, people have questions as to whether the money and resources really go where they are supposed to go. Given the fact that there is a weak infrastructure in the region to begin with and many weak governments, how do you respond to people who want to make sure the resources get to the people who are in need?
JH: The majority of the people who work at this organization are people who are self motivated to help. We don’t have any personal gains other than to help the people that we came from. Imagine if any of those people who were left behind were given an opportunity to be here only on the condition that they would help those who they left behind. None of them would miss that opportunity and they would all jump to it. We are just trying to do our duty.
FC: And the corruption?
JH: As far as corruption, that is one of the biggest problems in Africa. You’re not going to escape it, it is there. We’re trying to fight it in the best way we can. We try to work with the organizations and we have procedures and guidelines of how exactly every penny is spent. We need to account for every single thing, but again, this region politically is not an easy place to work in.
FC: In such a conflict torn region, what about the women and orphans?
![]() A group of Somalis who have been displaced from their homes by fighting inside the city, gather around a water tanker outside Mogadishu�s Deynile neighborhood September 18. The Somali government warned of a humanitarian catastrophe today because of acute food shortages in the war-battered Horn of Africa nation. The impoverished country has been plagued by conflict since the 1991 ouster of former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and humanitarian organizations have warned in recent weeks that a predicted crop in southern Somalia could worsen the crisis. Photo: MUSTAFA ABDI/AFP/Getty Images
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FC: Many young orphans are being raised to be child soldiers.
JH: What happens is that because the orphan has no home, they tend to go wherever they can find food and shelter. Of course, there are people with agendas other than helping them that will use them. Just like in Southeast Asia, there is the sex trade because people have no place to go. In Africa, it is about war and warlords taking them. In West Africa, we have the diamond mining, in East Africa, it’s about war.
FC: What else would you like for people to know about what is going on in the region?
JH: Get educated about what is going on right now and listen to the news of what is going on over there. Not just the political (aspects) because that is really the only thing that the news shows. This is a humanitarian crisis, it is not a crisis of religion. This is a basic need of food and water and stability. That’s all those people are asking for. We are living here in one of the largest empires in the world (America) and we have companies that are so rich that they don’t know what to do with their money and people don’t know what to do with their food. We can stop world hunger if we put an effort to do it. It starts small. If people can just get their company to promise to help this region, that would be a start.
FC: Thank you.
(For information about how you can donate to the American Relief Agency for the Horn of Africa, visit www.araha.org or call (612) 781-7646.)