the country is on the verge of famine, warns the UN

The fourth summer drought that hit Somalia is more intense and longer than the previous ones. It raises the specter of a new famine. On a visit to the capital, Mogadishu, the head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned, themonday september 5 : time is running out to save lives. “I have been struck in recent days by the level of pain and suffering that so many Somalis are enduring. Famine is at hand and today we receive a final warning“, thus declared Martin Griffiths, the serious face.

The southern areas of the country, around Baidoa and Buur Hakaba, have been shaken since fifteen years by the violent insurrection of the radical Islamists shebab. Half of the population, or 7.8 million people, suffer from drought. 213,000 are in great danger of starvation. The lack of rain is decimating herds and drying up water sources, the price of which has risen by 55% to 85% since January. A few days ago, Unicef ​​alersilent on the fate of children: half of the under-5s are prey to a acute malnutrition.