The United Nations (UN) has projected that parts of Somalia will be hit with famine in the coming weeks and it would be more severe than in 2011, when famine killed more than a quarter of a million people there, about half of them children. Hundreds and thousands of people have been reported to be dying of starvation.
In Somalia, 바카라hundreds of thousands are already facing starvation today with staggering levels of malnutrition expected among children under five,바카라 warned the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP).
바카라Large-scale deaths from hunger바카라 are increasingly likely in the east African nation, the UN agencies continued, noting that unless 바카라adequate바카라 help arrives, analysts expect that by December, 바카라as many as four children or two adults per 10,000 people, will die every day바카라, according to the official website of the UN.
What is famine?
Famine is broadly understood as 바카라an extreme crisis of access to adequate food, manifested in widespread malnutrition and loss of life due to starvation and infectious disease, reads the website of Oxfam.
In technical terms, a famine is a situation where one in five households experience 바카라an extreme lack of food and other basic needs where starvation, death, and destitution are evident.바카라
According to the UN, an area can be declared as suffering from famine if:
--- At least 30 per cent of children are suffering from acute malnutrition
--- At least 20% of the population is facing extreme food shortages
--- At least two people out of every 10,000 inhabitants are dying each day due to starvation, or a combination of severe hunger and illness
What has caused a famine in Somalia?
Russia바카라s invasion of Ukraine has been described as a disaster for Somalia, which has suffered from a shortage of humanitarian aid as international donors focus on Europe. Somalia sourced at least 90 per cent of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine before the war and has been hit hard by scarcity and the sharp rise in food prices.
Further, climate change has played a massive role in Somalia 바카라 and parts of neighbouring Ethiopia and Kenya 바카라 are facing the fifth failed rainy season in a row.
This, combined with years of insurgency by Islamist insurgents al Shabaab and loss of income due to the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed Somalians to the brink.
What is the situation like in Somalia?
U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths told reporters he was 바카라shocked to my core these past few days바카라 on a visit to Somalia in which he saw starving babies too weak to cry. More than 850,000 people are in the affected areas, with tens of thousands more arriving in the months to come, according to U.N. experts.
Hungry families in Somalia have been staggering for days or weeks through parched terrain in search of assistance. Many bury family members along the way. Even when they reach camps outside urban areas, they find little or no help.
At one camp outside the capital, Mogadishu, Fadumo Abdi Aliyow showed The Associated Press the graves of her two small sons next to their makeshift home. Disease had overwhelmed their weakened bodies. One was 4. The other was eight months old.
바카라I wanted to die before them so they could bury me,바카라 Aliyow said. Another resident of the camp of 1,800 families, Samey Adan Mohamed, said the last meal she and her eight children had was rice a day ago. Today they had only tea.
Camps like theirs are ringed by death, bringing aid workers to tears. 바카라I couldn바카라t get out of my head the tiny mounds of ground marking children바카라s graves,바카라 UNICEF바카라s deputy regional director Rania Dagash said last week. 바카라I바카라m from this region and I바카라ve never seen it so bad.바카라
A formal famine declaration might bring desperately needed funding. But 바카라tragically, by the time a famine is declared, it바카라s already too late,바카라 the U.N. World Food Program has said.
Why is the government not declaring famine?
The move to declare famine is politically contentious and the government fears that this might shed light on poor governance, questioning the government's failure to protect its people.
Media reports have quoted Somalian authorities in admitting that a blanket famine declaration could 바카라mislead responders and donors바카라 as well as 바카라chase away potential investors바카라 in other areas of the country.
(with AP inputs)
