Sanaag, 6 June 2022 (TDI): Save the Children has raised the alarm over Somalia’s drought. More than half a million people have been forced to flee their homes in search of food and water due to the drought.
The drought has been the worst in at least 40 years. According to Save the Children, mothers are fearful of losing their children as a result of the severe drought.
The country is in the midst of its fourth consecutive dry season. Families and children are suffering greatly as a result of this. Fears of a repetition of the 2011 famine, which killed over a quarter of a million people, are also growing.
In addition, half of those slain were children under the age of five. Experts are warning that the next rainy season, which begins in October and ends in December, may likewise fail. This would exacerbate the already dire humanitarian situation.
Save the Children has received reports from mothers who say they are unable to feed their children. They raised concern for their safety. A lengthy drought, along with insufficient humanitarian aid, has resulted in this situation.
Furthermore, the conflict in Ukraine has affected global supply systems, causing food prices to soar. Despair, livelihoods, and hope have all been lost as a result of the drought.
Refugee camps are becoming overburdened. This is due to the number of individuals fleeing drought-stricken areas, which continues to rise on a daily basis.
About 524,000 people in Somalia have been forced to leave their homes in search of food and water, according to Save the Children. This occurred within the last four months.
Somalia Drought situation
Six million Somalis are starving, and 81,000 are living in famine-like conditions across the country. If the situation does not improve, the UN expects that 1.4 million children will be critically malnourished by the end of the year.
The UN also warned that humanitarian aid must be scaled up quickly. This is to save families in Somalia from death and destruction. The warning is owing to the approaching threat of hunger, which might occur as soon as next month, according to projections.
Save the Children’s Country Director in Somalia, Mohamud Mohamed Hassan indicated that the organization had anticipated the drought. A two-year drought has ravaged crops and cattle in Somalia and the Horn of Africa. It also affected people’s ability to survive.
As a result, mothers are having a hard time putting their children to bed hungry. According to Save the Children’s Country Director, malnutrition rates among children are steadily rising.
The United Nations has warned that if adults do nothing, up to 350,000 children might die by the summer. With each passing day, the window of opportunity to act and avert disaster closes.
Governments and the international community must make the best decision possible. They should avoid millions of people suffering. Also, thousands of people are dying as a result of climate-related famine.
They should prioritize a targeted response that focuses on saving lives and livelihoods. There is a need to support local food production, safeguard the poorest, and make food cheap.
Save the Children’s assistance
Save the Children is also assisting drought-affected communities in Somalia. The organization is responding to the immediate aid concerns of the drought.
They are giving emergency water supplies as well as treating malnourished children. It is also helping to strengthen education systems so that children who are uprooted due to drought don’t miss out on important lessons.
Running health-care establishments is also encouraged. They help the poorest people with cash and other necessities.
