Région de Galgadud, devant le bâtiment du Croissant-Rouge somalien à Dusamareb. Discussion entre la conseillère du directeur des opérations du CICR et le responsable du Croissant-Rouge somalien à Dusamareb. Galgadud region, in front of the Somali Red Crescent branch in Dusamareb. Discussion between the ICRC advisor to the Director of Operations and the head of the Somali Red Crescent in Dusamareb. Photo taken on 1st or 2nd July 2008. In 2008, hundreds of thousands of Somalis faced life-threatening food and water shortages due to the escalating armed conflict, large scale internal displacement and the effects of a continuing, severe drought in central and southern Somalia. High inflation and the worldwide rise in commodity prices, especially for key imports such as food and fuel, aggravated the situation. In response, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has adapted its operations to focus almost exclusively on large-scale relief for displaced families and their host communities. The organization has started to distributed four months worth of dry-food rations to 435,000 people in close collaboration with the Somali Red Crescent Society. The situation in Somalia, which was already among the worst in the world from a humanitarian viewpoint, has further deteriorated since the beginning of 2008. A growing number of cities and towns in the centre and south of the country saw armed clashes while fighting continueds to be particularly intense in the capital Mogadishu. Many civilians were wounded or killed. Hundreds of thousands have been were displaced within Somalia. The deteriorating security situation and extremely fragile economy are further jeopardizedthe survival of many rural communities whose coping mechanisms were already stretched to the limit. The most severely affected areas are in central Somalia, which has suffered from poor rainfall and low crop yields for over two years. Food shortages are severe and livestock are weakening as pas