SOMALIA: UN CHIEF CALLS FOR “MASSIVE” AID TO COMBAT WORST DROUGHT IN DECADES

Tue 11 Apr 2023:

In light of Somalia’s severe drought, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has pleaded for “massive international support.”

Guterres stated to reporters in the nation’s capital Mogadishu on Tuesday that he was in Somalia “to ring the alarm” about the need for considerable international assistance during a joint news briefing with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

The worst drought in forty years has destroyed livestock and crops in portions of Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia due to five successively failed rainy seasons, driving at least 1.7 million people from their homes in search of food and water.

Despite the fact that Somalia has not yet reached famine levels, the UN estimates that 8.3 million people will be affected by the drought and that roughly half of the country’s population would require humanitarian help this year.

Seasonal rains in March contributed to flooding that killed 21 people and forced over 100,000 people to flee their homes, according to the UN, which cautioned that the rains would probably not be sufficient to improve the outlook for many people’s food security.

President Mohamud said the visit assures that “the UN is fully committed to supporting our plans for state-building and stabilising the country”.