Bishop Giorgio Bertin of Djibouti and Mogadishu The apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Mogadishu, Somalia, has called on the world to “pay attention to the plight of Somali people” as they face critical food shortages because of a crippling drought. Bishop Giorgio Bertin of Djibouti, who also serves Mogadishu, said Somalis living outside the country’s central and southern agricultural regions are facing the grimmest situation.
“Most of the affected areas are those in the country’s north and northwest,” he said on April 29. The bishop was in the Kenyan capital to attend a meeting of Catholic nongovernmental organisations addressing humanitarian needs in Somalia.
Somalia and some countries in East Africa have been affected by prolonged drought, Bishop Bertin said.
While in Kenya, the bishop also visited Dadaab, one of the world’s largest refugee complexes, in the northeastern part of the country. It houses mainly Somali refugees fleeing violence in their homeland.
The camp houses an estimated 270,000 refugees, he said, including people from South Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda.