The United Nations (UN) humanitarian affairs agency, (UNOCHA) on Monday said at least 200 children in Somalia have died of malnutrition since January this year, as the East African country faces catastrophic food insecurity for the first time since 2017, reported The TRT World.
“More than seven million people are affected, up from 6.1 million in May, and over 805,000 are displaced,” the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said in a statement on Monday.
According to the humanitarian agency, the drought conditions have deteriorated in Somalia after an unprecedented fourth consecutive failed rainy season in eight regions of the country, up from six regions in May this year.
In response to the drought, the UN said its humanitarian partners have launched the Drought Response and Famine Prevention Plan covering May to December 2022 to facilitate the scaling up of life-saving, life-sustaining assistance to prevent famine in the country.
It added that the plan, which targets 6.4 million people, requires a funding of $993.3 million to be implemented effectively.
“Since January, 3.9 million people have received life-saving assistance,” the statement said.
It added that the scale of the ongoing response and funding from the international community is not enough to sustain the lives of all those at risk.
The UN said late and limited funding is impeding an appropriate increase in assistance during the crisis. The severe drought had affected more than 7 million people as of June 30, an increase from 6.1 million in May, with over 805,000 displaced.
The UNOCHA said the rapidly increasing humanitarian needs require a massive scale-up as its partners transition from a drought response to famine prevention.
The statement came just hours after Somalia appealed for global aid to deal with the deadly drought. Somalia is witnessing one of its worst climate change-related droughts in four decades that has devastated the country.
