Tuesday April 12, 2022
Mogadishu (HOL) - Millions of Somalis are at risk of sliding into famine as the impact of a prolonged drought destroys lives and livelihoods, and growing needs outpace available resources for humanitarian assistance, United Nations agencies warned on Tuesday.
The joint statement by the WFP, FOA, OCHA and UNICEF said that six million Somalis, or almost 40 percent of the population, are now facing extreme levels of food insecurity, with pockets of famine conditions likely in six areas of the country.
According to the statement, this is nearly a two-fold increase in the number of people facing extreme levels of acute food insecurity due to the drought and related shocks since the beginning of the year.
“The projection for the risk of famine in six locations is extremely worrisome and should serve as a severe warning if we really meant ‘never again’ after 2011. The reality is that time is not on our side, and many more lives and livelihoods are bound to be lost in case of further funding delays,” said Adam Abdelmoula, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator. “I, therefore, continue to call on the authorities and our development partners to act decisively and help scale up resources to match the rapidly increasing needs, save more lives and rescue more livelihoods for the people of Somalia, “added Mr. Abdelmoula.
The agencies call for immediate funds to enable a scale-up of life-saving assistance in Somalia.
They said children under five are among the most vulnerable as the drought worsens, and access to food and milk is very scarce due to rising commodity prices and livestock losses.
The statement said that around 1.4 million children face acute malnutrition through the end of this year, with roughly a quarter of them, or 330,000 children, facing severe acute malnutrition.
The agencies added that the humanitarian agencies had reached almost two million people with humanitarian assistance as of February 2022. Still, a critical gap in donor funding means they cannot sustain and scale up their support to meet the growing needs. If this gap is not urgently addressed, it will worsen outcomes with a real risk of widespread famine. Such a humanitarian tragedy struck Somalia in 2011 when famine conditions killed a quarter of a million people.