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Over 300 people die of hunger and disease in Baay region, civil society says

Storyline:National News

A girl stands next to a dead goat in a pastoral village in Habasweyne (means Òhuge dustÓ), in the outskirt of Hargeisa, Somaliland. Severe drought exacerbated by El Ni–o conditions has hit parts of Somaliland and Puntland, compounding an already challenging humanitarian situation in the area. The drought conditions follow four successive seasons of below-average rains in parts of Somaliland (spanning two years), and a below-average Deyr rainy season in Puntland (October- December 2015). The UN has appealed US$105 million to provide humanitarian and livelihood assistance to some 1.7 million people, most of them pastoralists and agro-pastoralists who make up three quarters of the population in Somaliland and Puntland. Among them, 385,000 need immediate assistance, while another 1.3 million are on the brink of slipping into starvation if rains continue to fail and aid too slow to come.
Over 300 people died of hunger and waterborne diseases in Baay region since late last year, civil society organizations said Monday.

The Deputy Chairperson of Southwest society for Peace and Development, Ali Adow Ahmed said some people have been hit by hunger and diarrhoea at the same time.

“Outbreaks of diarrhea and some cases of measles are striking down people, mainly children already weakened by hunger, since late last year, over 300 died of hunger and disease,” said Ahmed.

Ahmed has appealed for help from Somali government and the traders saying people are at risk of famine if conditions do not improve soon.

“Most of their livestock have died due to the drought. Without rain, there is no food for the livestock, and no milk for the children and the age, we call on Somalis and the government to help these people,” Ahmed urged.

Ahmed’s comments come just less than 24 hours after Somali prime minister, Hassan Ali Kheire said announced the deaths of at least 110 people due to hunger and diarrhoea in the country over the past 48 hours in same region.

Last week, President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo declared the drought a national disaster

Thousands have been streaming into Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, in search of food aid, overwhelming local and international aid agencies.