Global Courant 2023-04-12 00:45:52
The UN says about half of Somalia’s population will need humanitarian aid this year, 8.3 million of them because of the drought.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for “massive international support” for Somalia, which is facing its worst drought in decades.
During a joint press conference with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud about his visit to the country, Guterres told reporters in the capital Mogadishu on Tuesday that he was in Somalia “to raise the alarm” about the country’s need for significant international support.
Five consecutive failed rainy seasons in parts of Somalia, as well as Kenya and Ethiopia, have led to the worst drought in four decades, wiping out livestock and crops and forcing at least 1.7 million people to leave their homes in search of food and water .
While Somalia’s famine thresholds have not yet been reached, the UN has said that about half of the population will need humanitarian assistance this year, with 8.3 million of them due to the drought.
In addition, seasonal rains in March led to flooding that killed 21 people and displaced more than 100,000, the UN said, warning that the rains are unlikely to be enough to improve food security for many.
President Mohamud said the visit ensures that “the UN is fully committed to supporting our state-building and stabilization plans for the country”.
“We are confident that the Somali people will be able to overcome the problems and challenges they continue to face by completing the country’s liberation and reconciliation,” he added.
The UN chief added that Somalia is facing humanitarian problems while also fighting a serious “terrorist” threat. The country is struggling with insecurity in the fight against thousands of fighters of al-Shabab, the East African branch of al-Qaeda.
Guterres visited an internally displaced persons camp in Baidoa, southwestern Somalia.
“This combination of terrorism and drought, largely caused by climate change, creates a perfect storm for the people of Somalia and requires massive support from the international community,” Guterres said during his visit to the camp.
The UN has launched a $2.6 billion appeal for humanitarian aid, but Guterres said the appeal was only funded at 15 percent.
“The international community has been absent from the drama of the people of Somalia,” Guterres said.
In 2011, Somalia was hit by a famine that killed 260,000 people, more than half of them children under the age of six, partly because the international community did not act quickly enough, according to the UN.
A UN and Somali government report released in March said drought may have led to 43,000 “excess deaths” last year, with children under five accounting for half of those killed.