Somalia: Six Million Somalis Face Acute Hunger As Drought and Conflict Worsen
[RFI] Six million people in Somalia are facing acute hunger, with nearly two million children at emergency levels, as severe drought, conflict and falling humanitarian funding deepen what the UN describes as one of the world's worst malnutrition crises. Medical charity MSF tells RFI it's sounding the alarm "before it's too late".
Six million people in Somalia are facing severe hunger, with nearly two million children in emergency levels, according to the UN. The crisis is exacerbated by a combination of factors, including severe drought, conflict, and dwindling humanitarian funding. The World Food Programme (WFP) reports that nearly one third of Somalia's population is now facing acute hunger, with a particularly dire situation in camps for displaced people in Baidoa, where medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) found that one in two children suffers from acute malnutrition, and one in four have severe acute malnutrition.
The charity is also concerned about a lack of funding to address the crisis, with over 80 percent of patients admitted to its nutrition program having already been admitted by this point in previous years. Health officials warn that the severity of these cases is alarming, as many children are already suffering from advanced stages of malnutrition and are prone to epidemic diseases such as measles and diphtheria.
The situation is further complicated by the impact of climate change, with drought affecting Somalia and floods threatening Kenya. Despite these dire circumstances, humanitarian aid is struggling to meet the needs, as international funding continues to fall.
Written by urgent.news from AllAfrica's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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