Mogadishu, (InsideSomalia.org) Horn Relief, an NGO based in Nairobi dedicated to promoting sustainable peace and development in Somalia, announced yesterday that it has suspended operations in the city of Kismayu due to a current prevalence of instability in the Lower Jubba region.

Other aid agencies, most notably MSF, have reduced operational capacity or withdrawn personnel from Somalia in recent weeks.

The medical relief agency said it was suspending all international staff presence across the country, a day after a team of its workers -- one Frenchman, one Somali, and a Kenyan surgeon -- were killed by a roadside bomb.

Mr. Abdullahi Ali Igal, an official with Horn Relief, said that Horn Relief has halted its humanitarian projects in the Kismayo because of the concerns related to the deepening threat of an already volatile security situation.

He further added that Horn Relief's decision to withdrawal their staff from Kismayo comes in a show of solidarity with MSF Holland.Mr. Igal was unable to give a timeframe in which his staff might return to Kismaayo and acknowledged the fact that many people in dire need will be greatly affected by Horn Relief's and MSF's respective departures.

This comes after when Somali children and women face one of the most difficult battles for survival and development in the world. Last year (2007) was an exceedingly difficult one for them, coming after a year of floods and drought (2006) and turning into a year of violence, insecurity and uncertainty, with unprecedented number of families fleeing Mogadishu.

 Nearly two million Somalis in need of emergency humanitarian assistance and shortfalls in funding against the agency's 2008 Appeal, UNICEF Representative to Somalia, Christian Balslev Olesen, warned of dire consequences for the country's children.

"In spite of the fact that there have been increasing attacks against humanitarian workers in the past few weeks and the situation continues to deteriorate, UNICEF is committed to working with our partners on the ground to ensure that we are there when the children of Somalia need us," said Balslev Olesen.

Global acute malnutrition rates in Somalia are above the WHO emergency threshold levels and when combined with low immunization coverage, poor hygiene and lack of access to safe water, constitute a time bomb in terms of impact on children

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