June 29, 2017…More than 20,000 children across nine districts in Somalia risk starving to death in a few months unless the international community continues to provide life-saving aid to the drought-stricken country, Save the Children is warning.
New survey results released by the aid organisation and conducted in partnership with Concern Worldwide and Action Against Hunger, show the number of severe acute malnutrition cases—the most dangerous form of hunger—have skyrocketed in nearly half of the nine districts assessed. In the district of Mataban alone, 9.5% of children under five are now severely malnourished.
Patricia Erb, Save the Children’s President and CEO in Canada who has recently returned from the region, said, “The lack of food and rising numbers of severely malnourished children are hugely distressing. The families I met with are desperate to keep their children alive – but with funds running out, we simply can’t guarantee the assistance they need, and know that millions will be put at risk.”
“The most recent rains have been erratic and have not allowed sufficient crop growth, which means that families continue to lose what little remains of their livelihoods and livestock – the essentials they need to be able to provide for their children. Many have been left with nothing, and children could starve as a result. These heartbreaking conditions indicate a clear risk of famine.”
A series of indicators tied to malnutrition, food supplies and mortality rates must be met for a famine to be declared. The survey results show the nutrition indicator is pointing to famine-like conditions in some areas of the country. Drought-related diseases like cholera have also been persistently high across the country, causing thousands of deaths and leaving already weakened children even more vulnerable.
An estimated $1.5 billion is needed to help aid agencies working on the ground save lives, of which only $550 million has been funded to date – including $21 million from Canada. Canada was one of the earliest major donors to provide funds for Somalia and other countries in the region hard hit by widespread hunger.
As current funds begin to run out, Save the Children is urgently calling on the international community to renew or scale up contributions to the response in Somalia.
“Early contributions from donors allowed us to save lives and help nearly one million vulnerable children. But these funds will soon run out, leaving millions at risk unless additional funding is made available.
“We welcome Canada’s recently announced Famine Relief Fund, which commits to matching funds raised from the Canadian public to respond to this crisis and help keep children from starving. I have seen first-hand the impact of this life-saving aid, and urge Canadians to step up and give what they can to save lives before it’s too late.”
Globally, Save the Children is urging other donors to follow the example of Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, all of whom have made ongoing contributions.
“We urge other donors to follow suit and make more funds available. Otherwise, we risk repeating the horrors of 2011, when a famine caused over 250,000 people – half of them children – to needlessly lose their lives.”
ENDS
- The study used the SMART method for nutrition assessment, finding Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rates of between 30.7 and 16.6 percent in 8 out of the 9 districts.
- 9.5% of the children under five in Mataban are severely malnourished, followed by Elbarde with 8.3%, Baidoa with 7.5% and Wanlaweyn with 6.2%
- A famine can only be declared when certain measures of malnutrition and hunger, food shortages and mortality are met – 20 per cent of households in an area must be facing extreme food shortages, acute malnutrition rates must exceed 30 per cent, and the death rate must be higher than two people per day per 10,000 people.
- The Somalia appeal is currently 63% underfunded: https://fts.unocha.org/appeals/528/clusters
- Save the Children has categorized the drought in Somalia at its highest level, Category One.
- During the first five months of 2017, Save the Children reached nearly 1.5M people in need of live-saving aid, including one million children. This is in part due to funding from Canada, who has contributed over $3.8 million to Save the Children’s response.
About Save the Children
Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. In Canada and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.