Action Against Hunger is the anti-poverty group that raises alarm over war-torn Somalia.
Action Against Hunger reported that Somalia has experienced the worst levels of severe child malnutrition since its inception three decades ago. According to its Friday press release urging countries to support humanitarian work in this war-torn African country, Action Against Hunger pointed out a 55% increase of admissions in centers that it manages in the country between January and April.
This organization blames rising food prices and unprecedented drought for increasing hunger. “High food prices and limited access to clean water have led to increases in severe malnutrition and alarming outbreaks of deadly water-borne diseases like cholera,”Ahmed Khalif (Director of Action Against Hunger, Somalia)
He voiced “Profound concern regarding the possible impact of increased hunger on stability and peace in Somalia”
We don’t have the funds or medicines to provide beds and medical care for all those in crisis.Khalif stated.
The report concluded that only 15 percent of Somalia’s humanitarian funding needs have been met this year, based on UN data, and called for increased and more flexible funding, along with unimpeded humanitarian access.
Action Against Hunger reported that the cost of food has been affected by the increased fuel costs and the war in Ukraine.
Ready-to Use Therapeutic Foods, a form of peanut paste that is used to restore malnourished kids to their full health within six weeks of being given up for sale by the conflict. Unicef has predicted that the price of RUTF will rise 16% by the end of the year, as transport costs and other ingredients such as sugar and oil continue to rise.
Action Against Hunger believes that 6.8 million children suffer from severe malnutrition within the Horn of Africa region, which also includes Ethiopian and Kenyan. The estimates of 23 million children in three countries suffering extreme hunger according to Oxfam International and Save the Children on Wednesday were published by the international charity Oxfam. “one person is likely dying of hunger every 48 seconds,”Oxfam made the statement in a press release.
Action Against Hunger claims it is a humanitarian organization that has been working in Somalia since 1992. It currently runs 51 centers of treatment across the country. The organization describes their work as “preventing and treating hunger, improving water and sanitation, and strengthening health systems.”
Unprecedented drought has killed up to 30% of Somalia’s livestock since 2021.
Somalia was plunged into civil warfare in 1991 when clans overthrowing General Mohamed Siad Barre’s military government fell out. US forces intervened initially to safeguard UN peacekeepers. However, a conflict with one of the warring groups led to the Battle of Mogadishu which took place in October 1993. The US left Somalia in March 1995, only to return a decade later as part of the ‘war on terror’.
Al-Shabaab, which seeks to take down the government, and to impose Sharia rules on the nation, often carries out bombings throughout the country.