110 die of starvation in drought-hit Somalia

5 million people need aid, UN says in appeal for $864m

MOGADISHU // Somalia reported 110 deaths from starvation over two days in one region as a severe drought threatens millions of Somalians. Prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire yesterday said that 110 people died from the Bay region in the country’s south-west.

It was the first death toll announced by the government since it declared the drought a national disaster last Tuesday. The United Nations estimates that 5 million people in the Horn of Africa nation need aid, amid warnings of a full-blown famine. Thousands of people have been streaming into Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, in search of food aid, overwhelming local and international aid agencies. More than 7,000 internally displaced people went to a feeding centre recently.

Somalia was one of four regions singled out by UN secretary general Antonio Guterres last month in a US$4.4 billion (Dh16bn) aid appeal to avert catastrophic hunger and famine, along with north-east Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen. All were afflicted by violent conflict, said Mr Guterres.

Stephen O’Brien, the UN humanitarian coordinator, was expected to visit Somalia in the next few days.

The drought is the first crisis for Somalia’s newly elected Somali-American leader, pres- ident Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed. Previous droughts and a quarter-century of conflict, including ongoing attacks by the Al Shabab extremist group, have left the country fragile. Mr Mohamed has appealed to the international community and Somalia’s diaspora of 2 million people for help.

About 363,000 acutely malnourished children in Somalia “need urgent treatment and nutrition support, including 71,000 who are severely malnourished”, said the US Agency for International Development.

Because of a lack of clean water in many areas, there was also the threat of cholera and other diseases, UN experts said.

The government said the widespread hunger “makes people vulnerable to exploitation, human rights abuses and to criminal and terrorist networks”.

The UN is seeking $864 million to provide aid to 3.9 million people in Somalia this year. However, the UN World Food Programme recently requested an additional $26m to respond to the drought.

Somalia was one of four regions singled out by UN in a US$4bn aid appeal