The French government on Wednesday (January 9th) pledged to give 1 million euros ($1.3 million) to help the poorest of the hundreds of thousands of people in southern Somalia forced from their homes by war and famine, AFP reported.

The aid will enable the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to put in place a year-long support programme for the displaced and those sheltering them, the IOM said in a statement.

"With this donation, IOM in Somalia is now able to establish border health posts on the Somali-Kenyan and Somali-Ethiopian borders ... to service these very vulnerable migrant populations," said IOM Somalia chief Ali Abdi.

"The current positive trends in Somalia, both the political process and the security situation, must be seized upon now and make us prepare, together with the government of Somalia, the appropriate and acceptable conditions for the long term stabilisation of the country," said Etienne de Poncins, the French ambassador to Kenya, where the deal was signed.