The United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, Adam Abdelmoula, announced on Thursday the allocation of 17.39 million euros to the Somalia Humanitarian Fund (SHF) to provide immediate assistance to communities at risk of famine in priority locations due to the drought that is ravaging multiple communities in the country.
«Famine is knocking at the door in Somalia and millions of people are at risk of starvation unless humanitarian assistance is increased and sustained,» Abdelmoula explained in a statement issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
«This allocation is critical because the number of people affected by drought has more than doubled since the beginning of 2022 and humanitarian workers urgently require additional funds to meet the growing needs,» he said.
Somalia is the country most affected by the drought in the Horn of Africa: at least 7.8 million people have been affected, of whom one million have fled their homes in search of water, food and pasture, according to UN data.
However, the UN has lamented that the revised 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Somalia requires 2.32 billion euros to respond to the needs of 7.6 million people in the African country.
So far, donors have contributed $1094 million (47 percent), enabling partners to reach nearly 6.5 million people with some form of assistance, although the UN has noted that «more funds» are needed to meet the growing needs of the population.
«We are in the midst of a fifth consecutive failed rainy season with the possibility of a sixth early next year,» Abdelmoula has warned.
