MILLIONS of Somalis are on the verge of starvation due to a combination of prolonged drought and man-made disaster. Hundreds of thousands have already died over the past weeks. The situation is compounded by internal feuds among warring factions resulting in a significant amount of the food aid being diverted from the intended beneficiaries. It is most depressing to see TV footage of children dying for want of food and water. And while it is true that drought conditions have contributed to loss of millions of lives, the situation is exacerbated by internal political fragmentation. Somalia is the only country in the world without a central government for quite a number of years. It is on the list of failed states.

The international community cannot remain indifferent to the plight of the suffering millions, a significant number of whom live in refugee camps in the capital city and neighbouring Kenya. It has a moral responsibility to come to the rescue of these poor and hapless people who are in desperate need of help. Food supply from the UN World Food Programme is grossly inadequate to meet the food needs of the starving millions.

As the late Dr. Cheddi Jagan pointed out, there are more than adequate resources in the world to meet the nutritional needs of every man, woman and child but too much of it is squandered in senseless wars and unnecessary and bloated military expenditures which benefit no one except the military-industrial complex which rake in billions in profits at the expense of human survival and dignity.

In addition to huge military spending, there is also the highly skewed income distribution which favours the rich and not the billions in the underdeveloped world who are condemned to a life of poverty and deprivation.

What is needed is a new global architecture in which there is a more equitable distribution of global wealth so that every human being regardless of which part of the world  they happen to live can benefit from the advances of science and technology and with it increased production and productivity. In other words, there is need for a paradigm shift which sees the north and the south as partners in development and not as competitors, especially in a global environment where the playing field is far from level.