Hiiraan Online
Monday February 27, 2017
World Health Organization (WHO) official, Dr. Ahmed El Ganainy, checks the eyes of a little girl during a joint humanitarian assessment mission to Marka, Somalia, on 9 July 2014. UN Photo/David Mutua
Mogadishu (HOL) - The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that it needs $10 million to provide emergency relief for 1.5 million Somalis on the brink of famine as severe drought conditions are pushing many rural residents into cities and towns to seek relief.
The funds are part of a broader UN appeal for $4.4 billion for more than 20 million people facing starvation in Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria, and Yemen.
"We need $4.4 billion by the end of March to avert a catastrophe," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
So far, the UN has raised just $90m.
"Somalia is now at a critical point as a result of this drought and environmental hazards and lack of basic services," WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Mahmoud Fikri said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.
Fikri said less than half of the population in Somalia has access to basic health services and WHO is providing support to face the ongoing drought.
Somalia is at risk of facing its third famine in 25 years with half of the population in Somalia - 6.2 million - in dire need of humanitarian aid and a further 3 million facing urgent food insecurity.
Failed rains in many parts of Somalia have reduced the availability of clean water sources. As a result close to 5.5 million people are at risk of contracting waterborne diseases.