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International agency Oxfam is airlifting 47 tonnes of vital water supply and hygiene materials to Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, as the aid community scales up its effort to bring relief to the drought-stricken country.

We're increasing our emergency response in Somalia, providing water, shelter and other aid to thousands fleeing deadly new violence in the country’s capital. War, drought and malnutrition are thrusting Somalia towards even greater catastrophe.

Over 3.2 million Somalis are in desperate need of emergency assistance, a 77% increase since January 2008. More than one million people have fled their homes in the last two years.

This week, Oxfam Ambassador Actress Scarlett Johansson visited Kenya to see the devastating impact of the drought in East Africa. More than 13 million people are at risk because of a severe drought that has hit parts of Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. In Somalia, the crisis has escalated to a famine.

The world must put people’s lives before politics if is to stand any chance of aiding people suffering from the famine in Somalia, a group of 20 aid agencies said today in an open letter. While aid is getting through in many areas, it is not at the scale needed.

In response to the FSNAU announcement that areas of Somalia have shown some improvement, Oxfam's Country Director for Somalia, Senait Gebregziabher, said:

The new escalation in fighting and insecurity along the Kenya-Somalia border risks increasing the suffering for civilians already devastated by drought and conflict, international agency Oxfam said today, three months since famine was announced in Somalia.

Aid groups urge the U.S. government, the bank and hawala merchants to work together to find a cooperative solution that will not disrupt or delay the transfer of assistance from the Diaspora to Somalia.

Oxfam says governments and donors must act with greater urgency in the face of a deteriorating crisis and rising needs in East Africa. Donors must move beyond promises and immediately turn money pledged into action on the ground, as more than half a million people are at risk of starvation.

Over 1.4 million people have been forced to flee their homes so far this year as a result of significant increasing violence in DR Congo, Sudan and Somalia, international agency Oxfam said today, as heads of state gather at the AU Summit in Libya to discuss peace and security across the continent.