Somalia: UNICEF Seeks Funding as Malnutrition Numbers Rise

The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has called for adequate and immediate funding for response to the malnutrition crisis ravaging Somalia.

Spokesperson for the UN agency, James Elder, who made the call at a press briefing, expressed concerns over the increase in acute malnutrition cases in the country.

SDG Two: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Situation in Somalia

Somalia is witnessing a two-year historic dry spell. A situation not seen in more than 40 years, and an expected fifth failed rainy season is bound to displace many families.

Data from UNICEF shows that more than 1.4 million children in the country are likely to suffer from acute malnutrition due to drought.

‘Today in Somalia, every single minute of every single day, a child is admitted to a health facility for treatment of severe acute malnutrition’, Elder said.

‘The latest admission rates from August show 44,000 children admitted with severe acute malnutrition. That is a child per minute.

‘A child whose mother has walked for days to get her child to help. A child whose body is fighting to survive. A child whose life hangs in the balance’.

Brink of tragedy

He further said, ‘Severely malnourished children are up to 11 times more likely to die of diarrhoea and measles than well-nourished children. With rates such as these, Somalia is on the brink of a tragedy on a scale not seen in decades.

‘And, of course, the children behind this staggering, appalling statistic are those who actually make it to a treatment centre.

‘In a country where access to the most vulnerable is continually hampered by terrorism and threats to aid workers, we fear many thousands more children are not reaching the support they need’.

UNICEF response 

UNICEF said it is deploying mobile teams to find and treat children with malnutrition, thus seeking to reach children in hard-to-reach areas.

It is understood that more than 300,000 children have so far been treated by UNICEF in 2022 alone, while 500,000 people have been reached with safe water in the last three months.

Despite these efforts, UNICEF said more and immediate funding is needed to prevent famine.

Only three percent of the funding contained in UNICEF’s three-year appeal to help families and their communities build resilience in the Horn of Africa has been received.

Photo source: UNICEF

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
WhatsApp

About the Author