Mogadishu (Halbeeg News) – Somali government has confirmed it has opposed a proposal by UN to declare famine in the country.
Addressing the media, the President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said the country is facing severe drpught had killed thousands of livestock and displaced millions of pastoralists.
The president has called on the Somali people and the international community to provide urgently enough food aid to 7.8 million people who are on the brink of dying of hunger and malnutrition.
Aid agencies under the Somalia NGO Consortium, a network of relief agencies operating in Somalia, called on donors to put forward additional funding in the coming weeks to enable a massive scale-up of life-saving assistance.
“More funds are needed for life-saving interventions, emergency livelihood assistance and durable solutions, including the centrality of protection in the response as well as gender-based violence and protection,” the agencies said in a joint statement issued in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.
According to the United Nations, an estimated 7.8 million people are now severely affected by the drought due to the unprecedented impacts of multiple failed rainy seasons and increasing food prices with the fifth rainy season projected to also fail.
The agencies said one of the key lessons learned during the 2016/2017 drought response was the quick difference that timely funding can make. Despite efforts by NGOs to reach out to the worst affected, the crisis continues to escalate with humanitarian needs expected to remain high through at least mid-2023, and more action and donor support are required.
Discussion about this post