The United States Mission to the United Nations (USUN) has announced that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide more than $41 million in funding to save lives and meet humanitarian needs in Somalia.
Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the announcement at a press conference in Mogadishu.
Thomas-Greenfield noted that Somalia is in a dire humanitarian situation, as the combination of the climate crisis, the supply chain crisis sparked by Covid-19; and conflicts have brought famine to the east African nation.
SDG Two: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
She said, ‘Famine is the ultimate failure of the international community. In a world abundant with food, entire communities should never, ever starve to death.
‘I refuse to accept that failure. When the longest drought in Somalia’s record led to initial famine projections, the United States took action.
‘Since the beginning of 2022’s fiscal year, the United States has provided 1.3 billion dollars of life-saving assistance to Somalia’.
She said the aid has brought food, water, and shelter to the Somali people, adding that as the United States surges support, it continues to work with all levels of Somalia’s government to increase security, and ensure humanitarian and development resources reach communities recently liberated from al-Shabaab.
According to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the severe drought in Somalia has put 8.3 million people at risk of food insecurity, while around 1.8 million children are likely to be acutely wasted by July 2023.
The United States called on other donors and the world to go ‘bigger’ and be ‘bolder’.
Source: USUN Mission
Photo source: Riyaad Minty
