I am confident that they (the government) are moving forward but we shouldn't expect too much too soon. There's been chaos and fighting for much more than 15 years and you can't fix that in a short time.

We need across the board support and commitment of everyone to ensure access and protection so that we can alleviate the suffering of Somalis.

The drought compounds what was already a dire humanitarian situation and is affecting communities in areas beset by years of high malnutrition and morbidity rates, chronic food insecurity, clan fighting and suffering from consecutive bad harvests.

We need external assistance. It is not a dry season or a drought period, it's a drought.

The opening of the academy is a historic moment. It is the first such national institution that has been built in Somalia for a long time.

When we speak about 1.7 million people in need of urgent assistance, we refer to a food security, water, health, nutrition and protection crisis.