A/HRC/18/48 food crisis in the world today. Over 10 million people in the drought-stricken areas of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda are severely affected, with no likelihood of improvement until 2012. 15. Furthermore, humanitarian funding for Somalia is negatively affected by antiterrorism legislation in some donor countries that considers any form of assistance reaching an organization identified as associated with “terrorism” an indictable offence. As a result, some donor States have avoided funding humanitarian activities that might lead to aid leakage to Al-Shabaab. In Somalia, since early 2008, the United Nations has been engaged in negotiations with various donor countries seeking exemptions from prosecution in the case of lifesaving food and non-food assistance, but to no avail. The independent expert highlights the necessity of adequate funding to sustain the humanitarian effort and ensure a proper response. 16. Following his two recent trips to the region, the independent expert drew the attention of the international community through two press releases (one in March 2011, the other in July) to the terrible consequences of the drought in Somalia. In his latter statement, the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, was a joint signatory. They warned that unless immediate measures were taken, the situation would worsen. The independent expert was pained to discover that, despite clear warnings by all concerned, the international response was far from satisfactory. III. Developments in the political sector 17. The political stand-off between the President of the Transitional Federal Government and the Speaker of the Transitional Federal Parliament took a serious turn in 2011. It threatened to bring political progress towards ending the transition to a standstill. The Speaker continued to maintain that elections for the Presidency, the Speaker and Speaker’s deputies should be held before the end of the transition, on 20 August 2011, while the President, citing security concerns and the need to carry out key transitional tasks, wanted elections to be postponed for a year. The confrontation reached a peak on several occasions, such as on 9 May, when Somali members of Parliament were prevented from leaving Mogadishu to attend a workshop to discuss modalities for elections, and on 19 July, when a shoot-out took place in Villa Somalia between guards of the President and of the Speaker. 18. The Security Council expressed its most serious concern at the political standstill among the Transitional Federal Institutions. The International Contact Group on Somalia met in Kampala, in June 2011. Participants urged the Somali leadership to reach consensus and complete the critical transitional tasks, most notably the constitution-making process through a credible and inclusive consultation process. 19. Intense efforts by regional leaders and the United Nations resulted in the Kampala Accord, which was signed on 9 June 2011. The Accord provided for the postponement of elections for 12 months from August 2011, the resignation of the Prime Minister within 30 days, the appointment and endorsement by Parliament of a new Prime Minister and Cabinet, and an undertaking by the Transitional Federal Government and the Transitional Federal Parliament to work together with the international community to establish a roadmap with benchmarks, timelines and compliance mechanisms for the implementation of priority tasks. The Transitional Federal Institutions, with the support of UNPOS and the United Nations country team are reportedly working on the said roadmap, which is expected to be adopted before the end of August 2011. An improvement in the security situation and progress in the adoption of the Constitution are central to the roadmap. 5