UN Relief Chief Warns of Impending Famine in Somalia

Somalia is on the brink of famine for the second time since 2011, warned Martin Griffiths, UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator at a press conference in the capital Mogadishu on Monday. Parts of the drought-stricken country, Griffiths said, were likely to experience famine by the end of 2022.

“Famine is at the door, and today we are receiving a final warning. I have been shocked to my core these past few days by the level of pain and suffering we see so many Somalis enduring,” Griffiths said following a five-day visit to the country.

A report released Monday, the Somalia Food Security and Nutrition Analysis, strongly suggests that famine will occur in the Baidoa and Burhakaba districts of the Bay region in south-central Somalia between October and December. Already by October, 1.5 million children across Somalia will face acute malnutrition if current trends continue.

A number of factors have contributed to what appears to be a humanitarian disaster just around the corner, including poor rainfall over five consecutive seasons, decades of conflict, mass displacement, a severe economic crisis, and exhausted coping capacities in the affected communities.

“I repeat: This is a final warning to all of us. The situation and trends resemble those seen in the 2010-2011, in that crisis. Except now they are worse,” Griffiths said.

“And these conditions are likely to last through to at least March 2023,” he said.

And while the situation is expected to get worse, it is already horrific: “In camps for the displaced people, we saw extreme hunger. In the hospital in Baidoa, we had the unenviable privilege of seeing children so malnourished that they could barely speak,” the UN relief chief said.

“The drought, the worst in four decades, is forecast to continue. This is, in those often-used words, and no more true than here, a humanitarian catastrophe,” he said.