Somalia
The Somalia operation is one of WFP Aviation’s largest and most challenging operations. The unstable political situation in Somalia has resulted in a high level of insecurity, which continues to make the availability of a humanitarian air service critical to support relief programmes and deliver humanitarian assistance in Somalia. The worrisome insecurity underlines the necessity of ensuring that aircraft capacity remains continuously available in Somalia for medical and security evacuations. From the beginning of the year to July 2009, 9 security and 6 medical evacuations have been executed. A fleet of six aircraft transports an average of 1,300 passengers in a month.
Although United Nations Common Services for Somalia (UNCAS) has been in place since 1996, it was only 2007 that the WFP UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) Special Operation (SO) started to serve the needs of air operation in the country.
With the launch of the new operation, the funding mechanism changed to partial cost recovery due to the conversion of UNCAS into a standard WFP UNHAS. This conversion is in line with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and internal WFP auditors’ recommendations.
