Viral campaign enlists Turkish Airlines to avert Somali famine

#TurkishAirlinesHelpSomalia went viral this week as celebrities and twitter users launched an online campaign to raise awareness about an imminent famine in Somalia.

French Snapchat and Vine star Jerome Jarre initiated the call to action in a video, subtitled in English, to raise awareness about dire humanitarian conditions in the country.

He said that since the media is "barely" covering the crisis, the online community must come together to do something.

"The reality is we can come together, we can look for solutions, we can try," he said.

"ONE airline that flies to Somalia is Turkish Airlines. So let us all use the hashtag #TurkishAirlinesHelpSomalia."

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Since launching, the campaign has attracted high-profile celebrity attention. American actor Ben Stiller shared a video urging support for the campaign, while American football star Colin Kaepernick also joined the chorus of support.

"People are dying in Somalia right now that need our help," he said. "There's an impending famine because of drought, politics, inaction of NGOs and lack of media attention."

Turkish Airlines responded to the online campaign on Wednesday, but without providing specific details. 

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Meanwhile, the head of the Turkish Red Crescent, Mehmet Gulluoglu, said his agency was already planning relief operations with the airline.

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More than half the population of Somalia – 6.2 million people – need humanitarian assistance and protection, including 2.9 million at risk of famine, the UN said last week.

Nearly one million children under the age of five will be "acutely malnourished" this year, according to the humanitarian chief, Stephen O'Brien, who visited the country.

"What I saw and heard during my visit to Somalia was distressing – women and children walk for weeks in search of food and water."

"The current indicators mirror the tragic picture of 2011, when Somalia last suffered a famine," the UN official said.

The famine could be averted with strong national leadership and support from the international community, he added.

But with little of the required international support materialising, some Somalis are seeking innovative coping mechanisms to endure the crisis.

Many have turned to social media apps such as WhatsApp to coordinate fundraising and create pooled resources for the most desperate of families.

"This is the first time this has been done, because of the level of desperation," a local Somali organiser told The Guardian.

"The WhatsApp groups were organised by one person and it just took off, snowballing," he added. 

With hundreds joining, the groups allow local organisation efforts, as well as aiding communication with Somali diaspora groups across the world.

Somaliland’s foreign minster, Saad Ali Shire, said recently that aid is needed desperately in the coming weeks, or the situation could become "very dire."