FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday January 29, 2023
Today
in Somalia, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Representative to
the United Nations, announced that the United States, through the U.S.
Agency for International Development, will
provide more than 41 million dollars in funding to save lives and meet
humanitarian needs in Somalia.
“The
humanitarian situation in Somalia is as dire as any in the world right
now,” said Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield during a speech on food security
in Mogadishu. The combination of the climate
crisis; the supply chain crisis sparked by COVID; and conflicts – like
the one caused by al-Shabaab, has brought that horrific word back to
Somalia – famine.
“Famine
is the ultimate failure of the international community. In a world
abundant with food, entire communities should never, ever starve to
death. I refuse to accept that failure,” said
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. “When the longest drought in Somalia’s
record led to initial famine projections, the United States took
action.”
Since
the beginning of 2022’s fiscal year, the United States has provided
1.3 billion dollars of life-saving assistance to Somalia. U.S. funding
last year accounted for more than 80 percent
of the World Food Program’s emergency operations in the Horn of
Africa. Four times greater than the contributions of all other countries
combined. That aid has brought food, water, and shelter to the Somali
people. As the United States surges support, it continues
to work with all levels of Somalia’s government to increase security,
and ensure humanitarian and development resources reach communities
recently liberated from al-Shabaab.
This
new assistance comes as the drought intensifies following a fifth
failed rainy season, putting people at risk of further devastation and
despair. Today’s new funding bolsters U.S. famine
prevention efforts with a targeted focus on addressing extreme food
gaps, treating severe malnutrition in women and children, and combating
the current outbreak of deadly diseases like measles and cholera.