Focusing on poverty - 1 Aug 2011

The Somali region is seeing its worst humanitarian crisis since the famine of 2000 in the Ethiopian area. There are currently two regions in southern Somalia where the UN has declared a major famine. The prolonged drought and the conflict in the area are fuelling the crisis. People are streaming into Kenyan refugee camps in search of aid; the Dadaab camp, meant to hold 90,000 people, now holds 400,000. The worst part is that the UN has warned that inaction could lead to the famine spreading to all eight regions in southern Somalia within two months. The African Union is planning a donors' conference for early August, hosting African heads of state, members of regional economic blocs and international organisations.

While the world focuses on combating the abject poverty in the Somali region by providing aid, the Chinese news agency Xinhua and the United Nations Development Programme have launched a photography contest that aims to focus the world's attention on poverty. They aim to do so through photographic media that "portrays some of the causes, solutions and achievements made in poverty alleviation to date". The competition is open to all.