Tens of thousands could die if the international community waits for a formal declaration.
Facing five consecutive failed rainy seasons, Somalia is on the brink of famine. But by the time the international community officially recognizes the crisis, tens of thousands may already have died.
Peter Maurer, outgoing president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, warned: If we waited for the international community to take action until a famine was officially declared, “tens of thousands of people would already be dead.”According to the German news agency DW.
Grain shipments from Ukraine are expected to ease some of the suffering under a UN-brokered deal allowing ships to pass through the Black Sea.Russia to invade Ukraine on February 24 Previous, Somalia imports 90% of its wheat from Ukraine and RussiaA six-month civil war is fueling food insecurity in places like Somalia.
But many other factors, such as conflict and climate, also pose serious challenges to the Horn of Africa.
“East Africa – a region of the continent that includes Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Eritrea and Djibouti – is in the midst of a severe hunger crisis,” says Catholic Relief Service. The combination of political instability, drought, floods, COVID-19 and inflation have left more than 50 million people in the region in dire need of food assistance.Climate shocks alone have led to large-scale displacement and loss of crops and livestock. It causes big losses.”
The number of people in desperate need of urgent humanitarian assistance in Somalia 7.1 million, up from 4.1 million in early 2022.
Francesco Rocca, president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said at a press conference in Geneva that “the situation is expected to worsen until 2023. and minimal,” he added.
DW reported that Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said more than $1 billion is needed to prevent the worst in Somalia alone.
Expensive, but the price of doing nothing 500,000 child deaths.
“More than 500,000 children face preventable deaths,” said James Elder, spokesman for UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Agency, in Geneva. “It’s a pending nightmare.”
But Abubakar Dahir Osman, Somalia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, stressed that humanitarian aid alone cannot permanently solve Somalia’s famine.
Osman stressed the need to strengthen the relationship between humanitarian aid and development. Sustainable solutions for those in need.
