Displaced Somalis line up to receive food aid distributed by the World Food Program at a camp in Mogadishu on June 16. Mohamed Dahir / AFP - Getty Images file
Source: MSNBC
As much as half the food aid sent to Somalia is diverted from needy people to a web of corrupt contractors, radical Islamist militants and local United Nations staff, according to a new Security Council report.
The report, which has not yet been made public but was shown to The New York Times, outlines a host of problems so grave that it recommends Secretary General Ban Ki-moon open an independent investigation into the World Food Program there. It suggests that the program rebuild the food distribution system — which serves at least 2.5 million people — from scratch to break what it describes as a corrupt cartel of Somali distributors.
In addition to the diversion of food aid, regional Somali authorities are collaborating with pirates who hijack ships along the lawless coast, the report says, and Somali government ministers have auctioned off diplomatic visas for trips to Europe to the highest bidder, some of whom may have been pirates or insurgents.
Somali officials denied the visa problem was widespread, and officials for the World Food Program said they had not yet seen the report but would investigate its conclusions once it was presented to the Security Council on March 16.
To read this article in its entirety visit MSNBC.com.
Sphere: Related Content
Related Posts
Source: MSNBC
Libyan rebels claimed to be in control of most of the Libyan capital on Monday after their lightning advance ...
READ MORE
Source: Reuters / MSNBC
Anti-riot police officers use colored water to disperse opposition supporters in the Kireka area on the outskirts ...
READ MORE
Source: MSNBC
London - As riots continued for a fourth day around the U.K., supporters of controversial far-right group English Defence ...
READ MORE
Source: MSNBC
KAKUMA, Kenya — The two mothers exchanged blows as they held their wailing infants in their arms after one ...
READ MORE
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Source: MSNBC
CAIRO — Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, lying ...
READ MORE
Source: AP / MSNBC
Dabaab, Kenya — Trying to escape starvation and East Africa's unforgiving drought, hundreds of Somali children have ...
READ MORE
Source: MSNBC
South Sudan became the world's newest nation Saturday after a half-century struggle, and the streets of the capital pulsed ...
READ MORE
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
The United Nations says malnutrition among child refugees fleeing ...
READ MORE
Source: MSNBC
United Nations — There is no evidence that Libyan military forces are being given Viagra and engaging in systematic ...
READ MORE
Source: Reuters / MSNBC
New York — Libya released four New York Times journalists Monday, nearly a week after they had been ...
READ MORE
Gadhafi’s Exact Whereabouts Unknown Amid Tripoli Clashes (VIDEO)
Ugandan Police Disperse Protesters With Water Cannon
London Riots: Far-right Group Calls For Safe And
Mothers Exchange Blows As Kenya Drought Deepens
Bedridden, Caged, Mubarak Rejects Charges As Trial Starts
300 Somali Children Left For Dead In Drought
South Sudan Becomes World’s Newest Nation
Worst Drought In 60 Years: 12 Million Africans
US Intel: No Evidence Of Viagra As Weapon
4 New York Times Journalists Released In Libya
