People must “look beyond the war in Ukraine” so that Somalia does not face famine, the United Nations Children’s Fund said today, warning that only a third of the $ 250 million needed to avoid it the disaster has so far been concentrated.
Four consecutive rains did not bring the expected rains to the Horn of Africa – the worst drought in more than 40 years – and the same is expected in October-December.
The drought combined with rising global food and fuel prices, led by the war in Ukraine, has affected millions of people across the continent, rendering basic foodstuffs inaccessible to poor families and destroying crops and livestock.
“If people do not look beyond the war in Ukraine and do not act immediately, there will be an explosion of child deaths in the Horn of Africa,” Rania Dagas, UNICEF Deputy Regional Director, told reporters.
Somalia has 386,000 children in urgent need of treatment for life-threatening malnutrition, a number that is already higher than the 340,000 children in need of treatment in 2011, a year in which famine killed thousands, she said.
Donor funding was generous but less than the $ 250 million required, Dagas said.
Malnutrition has made children more susceptible to disease and forced impoverished families to travel long distances with children to access treatment, Dagas said, citing the example of a pregnant woman who walked 120 kilometers to treat her twin boys. one year.
“I heard about children being buried by the roadside as their families made the desperate journey to find help.”
SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
Source: Capital
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