The European Union’s executive said on Tuesday that disbursements of humanitarian aid in Somalia were “temporarily suspended” after a United Nations probe found widespread theft and misuse of support meant to avert famine. Quoting senior EU officials, Reuters reported exclusively on Monday that the European Commission had temporarily suspended funding for the World Food Program (WFP) in Somalia because of the U.N. findings. The U.N. investigation concluded that landowners, local authorities, members of the security forces and humanitarian workers were all involved in stealing aid intended for vulnerable people. Two Somalis who reached the Muri camp in the capital, Mogadishu, after fleeing hunger and conflict in the countryside told Reuters that local officials stripped them of the aid.
SOURCE: VOA