Somalia is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe, as millions of people are at risk of starvation, due to the lack of rain, high prices, and lack of funding, according to United Nations agencies.
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Millions of people in Somalia are at risk of starvation
Millions of people in Somalia are facing famine, with young people most vulnerable to the repercussions of the worsening drought, United Nations agencies have announced, warning that the country is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe.
The World Food Program (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in a joint statement: “Somalia is facing famine conditions due to lack of rain, and a significant increase in Food prices, a massive lack of funding, which puts nearly 40 percent of Somalis on the brink of a precipice.”
For his part, the representative of the World Food Program for Somalia, Alkhader Dalom, said: “We are actually regarding to start taking food from the hungry to feed the starving,” warning that “Somalia is on the verge of a humanitarian crisis.”
Six million Somalis, regarding 40 percent of the population, face significant levels of food insecurity, according to a new report by the “Integrated Phase Classification of Food Security”, an increase of nearly two times since the beginning of this year, according to United Nations agencies.
Children under the age of five are most at risk, with access to food and milk scarce, due to high prices and livestock problems.
The Norwegian Refugee Agency said 745,000 people were forced to leave their homes because of the drought that followed three unseasonably rainy seasons, citing data from the UN refugee agency.
The United Nations said in a statement, that “the humanitarian agencies were able to provide assistance to nearly two million people, but at the same time warned of a “serious gap” in donor funding, talking regarding a plan to raise $ 1.5 billion in 2022, while it achieved only 4, 4 percent of its target.
And she was International Organization for MigrationEarlier this month, she said, “Millions of people are facing a humanitarian crisis due to drought in the Horn of Africa,” noting that “this region is in the grip of the worst drought in decades.”
