UN: Over 7 million affected by drought in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The United Nations has yet again raised concerns about the ravaging drought in Somalia, adding that actions should be taken immediately to rescue over 7 million people, almost half of the population, from dying or leaving their homes unnecessarily.

During a briefing on Tuesday, the United Nations acknowledged that since 2020, the country has never received substantial rains, adding that so far, over 7 million people have been affected, which is almost 50 percent of the country's population.

The UN further said that the displaced persons are over 805,000, the highest figure in the country in as many months. By September this year, the UN added, 213,000 people could face catastrophic hunger and starvation, a 160 percent increase since April.

Also, the UN noted, that 82 percent of all people displaced by drought since January are women, children, and the elderly. An estimated 1.5M children under the age of 5 years face acute malnutrition, including 386,400 who are likely to be severely malnourished – an increase of 55,000 compared to previous estimates.

Since last year, the UN further acknowledged, that around 3 million heads of livestock have died due to drought. Livestock is one of the biggest sources of livelihood. Over 4,880 suspected cases of acute watery diarrhea/cholera have been reported since Jan; at least 8,700 suspected measles cases, 82 percent of them under 5.

Rania Dagash-Kamara is UNICEF deputy regional director, eastern and southern Africa. Speaking from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, she says the risks are particularly high for children in Somalia who now are living on the frontlines of the climate crisis.

“We have an estimated 386,000 children in Somalia who are in desperate need of treatment for life-threatening severe acute malnutrition. Now, if I compare this to 2011, which was a famine year, we are now exceeding the numbers we had then, which were 340,000 children that required treatment at that time,” she said.

More than a quarter-million people died in the Somali famine of 2011, half of them children under age five. Dagash-Kamara says children are dying from a combination of malnutrition and killer diseases, such as measles and cholera, the Voice of America reports.

Newly elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud appealed to members of the international community to assist the country to tackle the crisis during his maiden trip to Baidoa, the regional administrative capital of Southwest, one of the states which are severely affected.

GAROWE ONLINE