Visiting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “massive” international assistance for Somalia. Which is dealing with a severe drought and a grinding Islamist conflict.
“I am also here to ring the alarm on the need of massive international support,” he said. Pointing to the difficulties faced by the country as it grapples with climate disasters and militancy. “Although Somalis make no contribution to climate change, the Somalis are among the greatest victims.
“Although Somalis make no contribution to climate change, the Somalis are among the greatest victims. Nearly five million people are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity,” he said.
Somalia is suffering from a devastating drought that has pushed many people to the brink of starvation. While the government is also waging a massive operation against the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab Islamist rebel group.
The UN has issued a $2.6 billion appeal for humanitarian relief for the embattled Horn of Africa nation, but Guterres claims it is barely 15% financed.
Five consecutive failed rainy seasons in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia have resulted in the worst drought in four decades. Destroying cattle and crops and causing at least 1.7 million people to flee their homes in search of food and water.
While no famine thresholds have been met in Somalia, the UN estimates that over half of the country’s population. It would require humanitarian aid this year, with 8.3 million people affected by the drought.
According to the UN, Somalia had a famine in 2011 that killed 260,000 people, more than half of them were children under the age of six, in part because the international community did not intervene quickly enough.
Last year, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared “all-out war” on Al-Shabab, which has been fighting the frail central government for nearly 15 years.
