Drought-stricken Somalis are climate change victims, says UAE

Amiera Al Hefeiti, the UAE's deputy envoy to the UN, on Tuesday linked the drought ravaging parts of Somalia to climate change and said a clean energy transition could help the struggling Horn of Africa nation escape poverty and insecurity.

Addressing the UN Security Council in New York, Ms Al Hefeiti said renewable energy production could help Somalia, which is suffering through the worst drought the region has seen in decades.

Ms Al Hefeiti called on the UN and Amisom, the African Union's mission to the country, to “support Somalia in addressing the impact of climate change, all of which have led to increased food insecurity".

“It is possible here to work on expanding the use of renewable energy in peace processes, which my country sees as an important step in reducing the impact of climate change,” she added.

Finding alternatives to fossil fuels is cheaper and offers “benefits to local communities”, said Ms Al Hefeiti.

A protracted insurgency by the Al Qaeda-linked local militia Al Shabab, political turbulence and a spate of natural disasters have pushed Somalia into a humanitarian crisis, with about three million people unable to access basic services, she added.

“We stress here the importance of the full, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid, while providing protection for humanitarian workers,” Ms Al Hefeiti said in New York.

Somalia’s government declared a state of humanitarian emergency in November due to the drought, with the worst affected parts including the south-central areas of Lower Jubba, Geddo and Lower Shabelle.

The UN reported than about 4.1 million people — a quarter of the country's population — need urgent food aid.

Nearly half of Somali children under the age of 5 are suffering from acute malnutrition this year, with hundreds of thousands needing life-saving treatment, the UN’s agency for children said on Tuesday, calling for urgent action.

“Malnutrition has reached crisis levels,” said Victor Chinyama, Unicef’s top spokesman in Somalia.

“The time to act is now … if you wait until things get worse, or until famine is declared, it may be too late.”

Rein Paulsen, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s director of emergencies, said this week the drought has killed about 1.5 million head of livestock and has drastically cut cereal production, pushing the region to the “brink of catastrophe”.

He said a “very small window” exists for taking speedy action and the key is whether the region’s long rains between March and May deliver much-needed water — and whether the agency receives the $130 million it needs until June.

Somalia has been mired in conflict since 1991, when clan warlords overthrew dictator Siad Barre and then turned on each other. Millions of Somalis rely on aid, the UN says, and floods, droughts and locust plagues have made the crisis worse.

The UAE joined the UN’s top body for a two-year term beginning on January 1, meaning it can take part in meetings, vote on resolutions and help draft official statements.

The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index

Mazen Abukhater, principal and actuary at global consultancy Mercer, Middle East, says the company’s Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index - which benchmarks 34 pension schemes across the globe to assess their adequacy, sustainability and integrity - included Saudi Arabia for the first time this year to offer a glimpse into the region.

The index highlighted fundamental issues for all 34 countries, such as a rapid ageing population and a low growth / low interest environment putting pressure on expected returns. It also highlighted the increasing popularity around the world of defined contribution schemes.

“Average life expectancy has been increasing by about three years every 10 years. Someone born in 1947 is expected to live until 85 whereas someone born in 2007 is expected to live to 103,” Mr Abukhater told the Mena Pensions Conference.

“Are our systems equipped to handle these kind of life expectancies in the future? If so many people retire at 60, they are going to be in retirement for 43 years – so we need to adapt our retirement age to our changing life expectancy.”

Saudi Arabia came in the middle of Mercer’s ranking with a score of 58.9. The report said the country's index could be raised by improving the minimum level of support for the poorest aged individuals and increasing the labour force participation rate at older ages as life expectancies rise.

Mr Abukhater said the challenges of an ageing population, increased life expectancy and some individuals relying solely on their government for financial support in their retirement years will put the system under strain.

“To relieve that pressure, governments need to consider whether it is time to switch to a defined contribution scheme so that individuals can supplement their own future with the help of government support,” he said.

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Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

What sanctions would be reimposed?

Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:

An arms embargo
A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods