Aid for Somalia is underfunded, official says

UNITED NATIONS - UN humanitarian activities in Somalia are severely underfunded, hurting Somalis who are outside areas controlled by Islamist rebels, a senior UN official said on Wednesday.

Humanitarian coordinator Mark Bowden told reporters health, water and sanitation assistance for Somalia's massive population of internally displaced people, who fled conflict zones across the lawless Horn of Africa nation, was now "seriously underfunded."

"The lower funding that Somalia receives affects not only the al Shabaab-controlled areas," Bowden said. "It also has affected non-food programs across the country."