Save the Children warns that nearly half of children under five in Somalia could face malnutrition by July next year.
Aid agencies, the charity said in a statement on September 24, were struggling to cope as funding cuts reduced health and nutrition services owing to a “convergence of crises”.
“Flash flooding, below-average rainfall, high food prices, and ongoing conflict have combined to drive hunger levels up 30 percent across Somalia, with the south being the worst hit, according to new figures from global hunger monitor, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC),” it said.
According to the statement, the figures revealed that 4.4 million people, or just under a quarter of the population, were now expected to experience high levels of acute food insecurity by the end of 2025.
“This includes over 921,000 people facing emergency levels of food insecurity or Phase 4, the second highest IPC level when urgent action is needed to save lives and livelihoods,” it said. “The new data showed the number of children estimated to be suffering acute malnutrition could rise to 1.85 million children by July 2026, an increase of nine percent from previous forecasts.”
The statement reveals that the closure of nutrition centers and health facilities has left over 55,000 children without access to life-saving nutrition services since June.
The statement quoted Save the Children’s Acting Country Director for Somalia, Binyam Gebru as saying “Somalia is embroiled in a protracted crisis, which is slowly grinding down the resilience of families and the wellbeing of children. Hunger – already at dire levels across Somalia – is on the rise, as climate shocks continue to wreak havoc, but it’s even worse this year because now we are facing massive funding cuts which are already having severe impacts on children.
“We are already seeing more children arriving at our clinics in critical condition, and with fewer facilities open, many will have nowhere to turn. Not providing the funds that can help prevent extreme hunger is a political choice and one that needs to be reversed before it is too late for millions of children in Somalia.”
The charity urged the international community and donors to “urgently mobilize resources to restore and expand nutrition, health and water services.”
Somalia has been reeling under absence of security as Al-Shabaab makes a resurgence with backing from other fundamentalist groups.
In March this year, there was an attempt on the life of President Sheikh Hassan Mohamud as a car which was part of his motorcade exploded as he prepared to travel to the frontlines to monitor the fight against Al-Shabaab.
In his address to the 80th UN Security Council this week, President Taye Atske-Selassie called on the international community to continue backing the African Union’s Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM).
“Now is not the time to retreat from global action in combating terrorism,” Taye said of the need to ratchet up global security assistance to the Horn of Africa where deteriorating security situation has been making humanitarian services difficult.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s involvement and troop contribution in AUSSOM has sparked fears that Somalia could be used as a ground for proxy fighting in view of Egypt’s adversarial stance against Ethiopia over the latter’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
But, President Sheikh Hassan Mohamud, during a recent interview with the BBC’s Focus on Africa, dismissed the concerns as unfounded and pledged his administration would not permit a clash on Somali soil.
