July 25 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The United States has announced the delivery of more than 475 million dollars (around 465 million euros) to Somalia to support aid delivery operations in the face of the severe drought that is affecting the country, which has left nearly seven million people on the brink of famine.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has indicated in a statement that Washington has delivered nearly 707 million dollars (about 690 million euros) in humanitarian aid to the population of Somalia so far this year, before asking other countries to “increase their contributions” to “avoid significant loss of life” due to the crisis.
“USAID’s critical assistance comes at a time when Somalia is experiencing four consecutive dry seasons, with more than 200,000 people at imminent risk of famine,” the agency said in a statement, before adding that the ” confluence of crises”, including the coronavirus pandemic, the plague of desert locusts and previous droughts have undermined the response capacities of the population.
He also emphasized that “climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of droughts globally” and highlighted that 461 million dollars (nearly 450 million euros) from the aid package will allow humanitarian partners of USAID to increase aid delivery to millions of people in the African country.
This includes the provision of food supplies and cash so that beneficiaries can buy food in local markets, as well as support the local economy, amid the increase in international food prices due to the war between Russia and Ukraine. , two of the main grain exporters in the world.
USAID has also stressed that this aid will allow malnourished children to be treated, as they are the most vulnerable and likely to suffer the most from the crisis. “About half of Somali children need nutritional support to survive,” she explained.
On the other hand, the aid will provide drinking water and emergency health care to prevent diseases aggravated by hunger, as well as provide protection to women and children to prevent gender-based violence. On the other hand, 15 million dollars (approximately 14.6 million euros), still awaiting approval from Congress, will help farmers so they can buy seeds and tools to maintain their crops.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned on Sunday that more than seven million people are on the verge of famine due to the catastrophic drought that is hitting almost twenty regions of Somalia.
The United Nations estimates that almost half the population (nearly eight million people) needs humanitarian aid and that 918,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in search of water, food or pasture, including minority groups.
Likewise, the UN warned that 17 districts of the country face a “reasonable possibility of famine” while harvests continue to deteriorate, food prices continue to rise, and the delivery of humanitarian aid is becoming an “unsustainable” task. .
The then Prime Minister of Somalia, Mohamed Hussein Roble, decreed a state of emergency in November 2021 and in March he called for the delivery of international aid in the face of the worsening drought in the Horn of Africa, with Somalia as the country with the most affected in the region.
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