NAIROBI,(insidesomalia.org)- UN Special Humanitarian Envoy Abdul Aziz Arrukban is currently on mission in Kenya and Somalia to highlight the humanitarian crisis in Somalia and advocate for stronger involvement of Gulf countries in tackling the unfolding emergency.

A statement from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Arrukban is on Wednesday visiting the Bakool region in Somalia and Dadaab refugee camps in northeast Kenya, which are home to 185,000 Somali refugees.

The visit came in the wake of the recent release of the latest assessment from the Food Security Analysis Unit (FSAU), which has confirmed that the magnitude, severity and speed of the humanitarian crisis in Somalia has resulted in the worst humanitarian situation in the last 17 years.

The number of people in need of aid has increased 77 percent during the course of 2008 alone, affecting a total of 3.2 million people, 43 percent of the entire Somali population.

The combined effects of drought and decreased cereal production, coupled with general insecurity, the rising cost of living including escalating food prices and the devaluation of the Somali currency, have caused this humanitarian crisis.