“Famine is at the door and we are receiving a final warning,” Griffiths said at a press conference in Mogadishu, saying famine was likely in two areas in south central Somalia between October and December this year. (Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP)
This was contained in a statement tagged: 2023 Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan, released yesterday, where it says over 208,457 people have been reached with lifesaving food, water, sanitation and hygiene since April 2022.
The Oxfam Country Director in Somalia, Adil AlMahi, said nearly half the population – or 8.3 million people – are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, of which over 700,000 are facing a looming famine.
He said: “With five failed rain seasons, Somalia is quickly moving towards what may be one of its worst humanitarian crises in recent history. People’s ability to cope has been stretched to a breaking point. They have nothing left to fall back on.
“Many are telling us they have been digging into their savings or building debt all last year to manage to put food on the table. Now, they depleted their savings, cannot repay their debt, or borrow anymore. They have exhausted all their options, but hunger is far from over.
“We cannot continue drip-feeding aid to keep the worst of the crisis at bay while each day people slide further into irrecoverable debt to survive. What Somalia needs is a drastic global collective effort to lift people out of a looming famine swiftly.
“This includes donors immediately injecting money to meet the United Nations $2.6b. Somalia appeal to save lives now. It also includes tackling the root causes of hunger in Somalia, including preparing for future similar climate shocks in the future, supporting farmers to replenish their crops and stocks, and tackling violence.”
AlMahi said the organisation is aiming to support an additional 420,000 of the most vulnerable people and urgently requires €15m to ramp up its operations.
