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MOGADISHU/NAIROBI. — Some 110 people have died in southern Somalia in the last two days from famine and diarrhoea resulting from a drought, the prime minister said on Saturday, as the area braces itself for widespread shortages of food.
In February, United Nations children’s agency Unicef said the drought in Somalia could lead to up to 270 000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition this year.
“It is a difficult situation for the pastoralists and their livestock. Some people have been hit by famine and diarrhoea at the same time.
In the last 48 hours, 110 people died due to famine and diarrhoea in Bay region,” Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire’s office said in a statement.
“The Somali government will do its best, and we urge all Somalis wherever they are to help and save the dying Somalis,” he said in the statement released after a meeting of a famine response committee.
In 2011, some 260 000 people starved to death due to famine in Somalia.
The country also continues to be rocked by security problems, with the capital Mogadishu and other regions controlled by the federal government coming under regular attack from Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab.
UN calls for measures to save lives in drought-hit Kenya
Meanwhile, the UN relief chief on Saturday urged international support for the estimated 2,7 million people in parts of Kenya who urgently need food and water following the onset of a severe drought.
Stephen O’Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said in a statement issued in Nairobi that the world must act now to save lives in Kenya and Horn of Africa region ravaged by severe drought.
“Famine has reared its ugly head in neighbouring South Sudan, Somalia is at risk for the second time this decade, and more than 2,7 million Kenyans are severely food insecure,” warned O’Brien.
“Crops are failing, food prices are rising, and families are going hungry. The spectre of hunger and disease is haunting East Africa again. We need to put a stop to this,” he added. — Reuters/Xinhua.
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