By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Stemming from five consecutive failed rainy seasons in Somalia, at least 43,000 people have died as a result of drought, with children below the age of five, (5) representing half of the fatalities recorded last year alone, a report released by the government and United Nations agencies has indicated.
This comes as experts warn that the current drought in Somalia may be worse than the country’s last major drought in 2017 and 2018, stating that 2023 portrays a gloomy future.
The research released on Monday, is one of the first attempts to estimate countrywide deaths from the climate-induced crisis and is led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
It warns that the rate of fatalities could rise in the first half of 2023, as it projected total deaths for this period from 18,100 to 34,200.
“These results present a grim picture of the devastation brought on children and their families by the drought,” UNICEF’s Wafaa Saeed said while presenting the report in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.
Mamunur Rahman Malik, a representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Somalia, said the international community faces a race against time to prevent deaths that are avoidable and save lives.
“We have seen deaths and diseases thrive when hunger and food crises prolong,” he said in a statement.
He added, “We will see more people dying from the disease than from hunger and malnutrition combined if we do not act now. The cost of our inaction will mean that children, women and other vulnerable people will pay with their lives while we hopelessly, helplessly witness the tragedy unfold.”
The UN says, at least five million people are left with acute food shortages and nearly two million children at risk of malnutrition, as a result of failed rainy reasons.
Francesco Checci, a co-author of the study, said the lack of a famine designation should not distract from the scale of the crisis.
“What we are actually showing is that it isn’t time to slow down in terms of funding and humanitarian response,” he said.
