More Than Half A Million Children In Somalia Expected To Face The Most Deadly Form Of Malnutrition By Next April

More than half a million children in Somalia are expected to face the most deadly form of malnutrition by April next year due to drought, higher food prices, conflict and disease outbreaks, according to new figures released on Tuesday. Save the Children is calling for an urgent injection of international funds to prevent a repetition of the massive loss of lives during a 2011 famine.

New figures on Tuesday projected that half of the population - or 8.3 million people - are expected to be in crisis levels of hunger (IPC3 and above) by April 2023 compared to 5.6 million currently.

This included 1.8 million children forecast to be suffering from severe malnutrition and 513,500 of those from severe acute malnutrition.

Adding to this, the number of people facing famine-like conditions is forecast to treble to 727,000 by next July without urgent intervention.

Dr Binyam Gebru, Deputy Country Director for Save the Children in Somalia, said:

"For more than a year we have been warning of a disaster building in Somalia and the threat this is causing to the lives of millions of children. This is now one of the worst crises we’ve ever seen, with five consecutive failed rainy seasons putting food out of reach for millions of people. This week's shocking new analysis by the IPC shows that unless we see funding for this emergency rapidly intensify, half the population will be acutely food insecure - they will only marginally be able to meet their minimum needs. There is no getting away from it: millions more children are facing malnutrition, life-changing illness, and death.

"This analysis also sees more pockets of Somalia plunge into famine. The country has not faced an emergency this critical since 2011 and yet where is the funding? What will it take to jolt the international community awake, so that they provide not just immediate funds to keep people alive today, but long-term solutions to tackle the hunger and climate crises that are killing children?"

Save the Children has been working in Somalia and Somaliland since 1951 and has programmes throughout the country which support children’s healthcare, education and food needs. Last year its work in the region directly reached over 3 million people, including 1.7 million children.

Save the Children New Zealand is currently fundraising to support the response efforts in Somalia.

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