About 8 million Somali people, nearly half of the east African country’s population, are suffering from drought, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul Gheit has warned.
During a meeting with officials in charge of drought and food security, the Arab League chief called for extending assistance to Somalia to stave off famine like that one that occurred in 2011.
The worst drought to strike Somalia in 40 years – marked by four failed rainy seasons in a row, with a fifth likely to come – desiccated the crops she had planted with her husband, leaving no food or fodder, the United Nations had said.
The displaced families are the sharp end of a burgeoning humanitarian catastrophe in Somalia that the United Nations and international aid agencies warn may become unprecedented in both scale and lethality – with 1.5 million children alone at risk of acute malnutrition – unless there is a further infusion of lifesaving aid and compassion.
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