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food distribution sites persisted, fueled by hostility toward international relief efforts by heavily armed rival militant factions. As efforts to reestablish a central government failed, international troops became enmeshed in tribal conflicts. Clan fighting increased in 1994, and the United States and other nations withdrew their forces. In spite of several efforts at national reconciliation, the country still has no organized central government. By any standards of human development—per capita income, malnutrition, infant mortality—Somalia remains one of the poorest countries in the world, as it is plagued by chronic droughts and floodings, eroding food security and making large areas inaccessible to humanitarian aid. UN agencies— notably the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)—have haltingly helped sustain the lives of the most vulnerable through food distributions, immunization campaigns, and water system rehabilitation projects. See also UNITED NATIONS OPERATION IN SOMALIA (UNOSOM I, April 1992–March 1993 and UNOSOM II, March 1993–March 1995). SOUTH AFRICA. See APARTHEID. SOUTH CENTER. Established by treaty among countries members of the Group of Seventy-Seven in 1994, the South Center is a think tank undertaking policy-oriented analytical work on issues of common interest to Southern Hemisphere states such as cooperation among developing countries, development policies, international economic relations, North-South relations, international governance, and the management of globalization. The center’s research work is principally designed to identify the converging interests of developing countries, promote their cooperation, and strengthen the basis of their demands in the North-South dialogue. See also SOUTH COMMISSION; THIRD WORLD NETWORK (TWN). SOUTH COMMISSION. Established in 1986 at the urging of a conference of the Nonaligned Movement (NAM), this group of eminent persons from developing countries was chaired by Julius Nyerere,