07 May 2017 | 06:10 AM UTC
Somalia: UN warns 1.4 million children may suffer acute malnutrition this year
The United Nations warns that 1.4 million children are at risk of severe malnutrition in drought-hit Somalia by the end of 2017; fatal diseases are likely to spread
Event
The United Nations (UN) reported on Tuesday, May 2, that 1.4 million children are projected to be acutely malnourished by the end of the year throughout the country; 275,000 of them are at risk of suffering life-threatening severe acute malnutrition. According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson, these children are “nine times more likely to die of cholera, diarrhea, and measles”. UNICEF said that the combination of drought, disease, and displacement are significantly increasing the risk for children in Somalia.
Context
On Tuesday, April 25, the UNICEF warned that thousands of children are currently infected with measles; 5,700 suspected measles cases have been reported across Somalia since the start of 2017. Likewise, The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on April 13 that more than 25,000 people have been affected by cholera since January 2017, with a projected increase to 50,000 by June 2017; the number of people killed by the current cholera outbreak since January 2017 has reportedly reached 524.
Somalia is one of several East African nations, including South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya, that are suffering from two failed rainy seasons, leading to food shortages and livestock deaths across the region. On Tuesday, February 28, Somalia’s government declared a national disaster due to the ongoing drought, which is believed to be the worst in five years. Approximately 320,000 children are already classified as malnourished. Overall, according to UN projections, 6.2 million people in Somalia require humanitarian assistance, with more than 3 million facing a food security crisis. The dire drought and food scarcity has forced more than 615,000 people to flee their homes since last November, in a country where 1.1 million people were already internally displaced.
Advice
Individuals in Somalia are advised to monitor the situation.
Western governments generally advise their citizens against travel to Somalia due to extremely poor security conditions; professional security advice and support should be sought prior to travel to or within the country.
