Approximately 3.4 million people in Somalia are currently experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, with more than 620,000 of them facing emergency levels of food insecurity, a UN spokesperson said Thursday.
Speaking to reporters at a daily briefing, Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that severe drought in Somalia is putting millions of people’s lives at risk, with humanitarian aid severely limited due to dwindling funding.
The drought is particularly severe in the eastern and northern regions of the country, but it is spreading to central and southern Somalia as well, he noted.
Between October and December, more than one in five people in Somalia are projected to face high levels of food insecurity, said Dujarric, adding that the nutrition situation is equally alarming, with 1.9 million children under the age of 5 expected to suffer from acute malnutrition between August of this year and July of next year.
This week, the Somali government declared a nationwide drought emergency. Dujarric noted that the drought declaration calls on humanitarian agencies to scale up life-saving efforts in the areas of nutrition, health, water, and food security.
The appeal comes as aid organizations have been forced to reduce or suspend emergency assistance due to crippling funding shortfalls, said the spokesperson, noting that the 1.4-billion-U.S.-dollar Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Somalia is only 22 percent funded.
