Save the Children appeals for emergency response as drought ravages Somalia

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: The aid group Save the Children has added its voice to calls for urgent humanitarian response to the unfolding drought conditions in Somalia which have since claimed lives and displaced over 100,000 people.

Save the Children said in a statement donors must urgently ‘respond to the needs of children and their families as they enter a new, critical phase of this crisis.’

The aid agency said hundreds of water sources have dried up, and countless animals and crops have died as the result of the intensifying drought leaving families with no access to food and safe drinking water. Families too have lost their life savings in the deaths of their livestock, Save the Children said.

Save the Children Country Director Mohamed Hassan said the situation in the country was worsening by the day and urged immediate action.

“Our staff in the field are witnessing dried up water sources, no crops and no pastures, animals dying and people moving away from their communities after losing their livestock. Those who cannot afford to pay for water and food face the prospect of dying of hunger and lack of water,” said Hassan. “This is an unsustainable situation for the people of Somalia. Somalis are resilient, they are adaptive, but no-one can adapt quickly to such dramatic changes in the climate.”

“The global community needs to take responsibility for this crisis. It isn’t the fault of Somali children, who have some of the lowest carbon footprints on earth, that their world is heating and their animals are dying,” Hassan added.

Prime Minister Mohamed Roble announced a state of emergency Tuesday and urged local and international response to provide life-saving aid and stem the tide of a fast-deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country.

The UN estimates 2.6 million people in 66 out of 74 districts across the country lack access to sufficient food, water and pasture. The UN also projects that 1.2 million children under the age of five will be acutely malnourished by the end of the year, with nearly 213,400 of them severely malnourished.