,,iv  #aaeth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,h4 ,,res4 #bci  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of
 ,,representatives  ,april #c1 #bjag,mr4
 ,engel 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,smith of    
,new ,jersey1 ,ms4 ,bass1 and ,mr4      
,ellison7 submitted the following       
resolution2 which was referred to the   
,committee on ,foreign ,affairs         
,,resolution  ,supporting ongoing       
efforts by the ,united ,states          
,government1 in concert with the ,united
 ,nations and the donor community1 to   
respond to drought and food insecurity  
in the ,horn of ,africa4  ,whereas the  
worst famine in #bj years occurred in   
,somalia between ,october #bjaj and     
,april #bjab1 caused by severe drought1 
failed harvests1 a spike in food prices1
 and pervasive insecurity1 which impeded
 the delivery of food aid2 ,whereas the 
famine resulted in the deaths of at     
least #bfj1jjj ,somalis and ,somali     
refugees in ,southern ,ethiopia and     
,northern ,kenya1 including at least    
#acc1jjj children under the age of five2

 ,whereas early warning of drought and  
famine conditions was accurate and      
timely across the region1 but funding   
for the humanitarian response came too  
late to mitigate the worst effects of   
the drought1 including mass displacement
 into neighboring countries1 starvation1
 and death2 ,whereas in #bjaa alone1 the
 threat of starvation contributed to the
 influx of over #aaj1jjj ,somali        
refugees into ,ethiopia1 #ajj1jjj       
,somali refugees into ,kenya1 and       
thousands more into ,djibouti2 ,whereas 
a shortage of rainfall over the course  
of the past two years has again         
exacerbated drought conditions1         
significantly increasing vulnerability  
and food insecurity across the ,horn of 
,africa region1 leaving more than       
#ad1jjj1jjj people facing severe food   
insecurity and in need of humanitarian  
assistance as of early #bjag2 ,whereas  
in ,february #bjag1 the ,famine ,early  
,warning ,systems ,network 7,,fews      
,,net7 and the ,food ,security and      

,nutrition ,analysis ,unit for ,somalia 
7,,fsnau7 warned of a significant       
deterioration in food security and an   
increased risk of famine in the ,horn of
 ,africa in the coming months if the    
,april-,june rains are as poor as       
expected2 ,whereas the effects of       
drought place the heaviest burden on    
women and girls1 whose coping strategies
 put them at increased risk of violence 
and cause them to forego educational    
opportunities2 ,whereas in ,ethiopia1   
drought conditions have developed in    
recent months in at least #ae zones of  
,oromia1 ,somali1 and the ,southern     
,nations1 ,nationalities1 and ,peoples  
regions1 and #e1fjj1jjj people are      
projected to require humanitarian       
assistance in the coming months2        
,whereas ,kenya has experienced two     
consecutive seasons of poor rains1      
causing #ab counties to experience      
drought conditions and contributing to  
acute food insecurity for #b1fjj1jjj    
people2 ,whereas in ,somalia1 nearly    

#f1bjj1jjj people are currently in need 
of humanitarian assistance1 and more    
than #b1ijj1jjj people are facing crisis
 or emergency levels of acute food      
insecurity1 including nearly a million  
children under the age of five2 ,whereas
 according to the ,united ,nations ,high
 ,commissioner for ,refugees 7,,unhcr71 
,somalia is the fourth largest source of
 refugees in the world1 after           
,afghanistan1 ,syria1 and ,south ,sudan2
 ,whereas more than #a1jjj1jjj people   
are already internally displaced within 
,somalia1 many living in dire and unsafe
 informal displacement camps where they 
face a range of serious risks1 including
 sexual violence and violent forced     
evictions2 ,whereas the anticipated     
scale of population displacement from   
,somalia due to pervasive conflict and  
the threat of starvation will increase  
refugee flows throughout the region and 
into ,europe2 ,whereas in #bjaf1 the    
,government of ,kenya revoked prima     
facie refugee status for ,somalis and   

disbanded the ,department of ,refugee   
,affairs1 leaving thousands of newly    
arrived ,somalis unregistered and       
without assistance2 ,whereas the        
,government of ,kenya has announced     
plans to repatriate #bfa1jjj ,somali    
refugees to areas of ,somalia affected  
by drought and famine conditions1 as    
well as the persistent threat of        
violence from ,al-,shabaab2 and ,whereas
 if timely1 sufficient funding for a    
robust humanitarian response is not     
received by the end of ,april #bjag1 the
 humanitarian consequences of this      
drought1 including the loss of life and 
reverberating effects in the region1    
will exceed those of the #bjaa famine3  
,now1 therefore1 be it  ,that the ,house
 of ,representatives-- 7#a7 commends the
 timely response of the ,department of  
,state and the ,united ,states ,agency  
for ,international ,development         
7,,usaid7 to early warning signals of   
drought in the ,horn of ,africa1 and for
 providing substantial assistance for   

the humanitarian response in fiscal year
 #bjaf and to date in fiscal year #bjag2
  7#b7 commends ,,usaid's quick         
deployment of a ,disaster ,assistance   
,response ,team 7,,dart7 between ,march 
and ,november #bjaf1 in response to the 
previous drought in northeastern and    
central ,ethiopia1 which1 by working    
with international partners1 resulted in
 the number of people requiring         
humanitarian assistance declining from  
approximately #aj1bjj1jjj in late #bjae 
to a projected #e1fjj1jjj by the end of 
#bjag2  7#c7 commends the ,somali       
diaspora in the ,horn of ,africa1 the   
,united ,states1 ,canada1 ,australia1   
and ,europe1 for spearheading the       
response to humanitarian needs in       
,somalia1 and encourages financial      
institutions to explore means to        
facilitate the flow of charitable       
donations and remittances to populations
 in need2  7#d7 commends the work of    
,united ,nations agencies and           
international1 national1 and local      

nongovernmental organizations 7,n,g,os7 
in providing sustained life-saving      
assistance to vulnerable populations    
across the ,horn of ,africa1 leading to 
improvements in malnutrition rates since
 #bjaa2  7#e7 commends ,,usaid for its  
work to date to mitigate the impact of  
environmental shocks to pastoralist     
communities across the ,horn of ,africa1
 and calls on the ,department of ,state 
and ,,usaid to continue providing       
robust1 long-term development supporting
 programs that build resilience1 protect
 livelihoods1 and strengthen global food
 security through programs such as      
,,usaid's ,office of ,food for ,peace   
and ,bureau for ,food ,security1 as well
 as programs to provide drought relief  
and emergency food assistance           
implemented by the ,world ,food ,program
 7,,wfp71 ,food and ,agriculture        
,organization of the ,united ,nations   
7,,fao71 ,united ,nations ,international
 ,children's ,emergency ,fund           
7,,unicef71 and nongovernmental         

organizations1 including faith-based and
 non-faith-based organizations2  7#f7   
calls on the ,president to appoint      
high-level officials able to engage the 
international community in joining the  
,united ,states to respond to this      
crisis1 including an ,administrator for 
,,usaid1 a ,director for the ,office of 
,foreign ,disaster ,assistance1 an      
,assistant ,,usaid ,administrator for   
,africa1 and an ,assistant ,secretary of
 ,state for ,african ,affairs2  7#g7    
urges the ,government of ,kenya to      
publicly declare that the ,dadaab       
refugee complex will remain open1       
respect prima facie status for new      
arrivals from ,somalia1 and work with   
the ,office of the ,united ,nations     
,high ,commissioner for ,refugees in    
,kenya to restart the registration of   
refugees1 including from ,somalia1 at   
their points of entry1 re-establish     
fair1 transparent1 and effective asylum 
procedures across the country1 and put  
in place robust border protection       

monitoring to track humanitarian        
indicators inside ,somalia and assess   
the needs of new arrivals2 and  7#h7    
calls on the ,united ,states ,government
 and the international community1       
including international1 national1 and  
local ,n,g,os1 to continue life-saving  
assistance and development activities in
 order to alleviate drought and food    
insecurity in the region to avert the   
catastrophic consequences of drought in 
the ,horn of ,africa4