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Struggle in Somalia

Somalia, a country that's a little smaller than Texas, has been without an effective government since 1991. In the years that have followed, periodic conflict has erupted between rival factions, forcing massive displacements of people and severely disrupting the economy.

Conflict, drought and floods have created a chronic humanitarian crisis for many of Somalia's estimated eight million people. While Oxfam has been working in the country since the mid-1960s, the agency now offers assistance through a network of local organizations that understand both the needs of the people there and the dynamics of working in a country plagued by instability.

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