Wednesday December 30, 2020
MOGADISHU (HOL) - The UK has announced £5 million to support the provision of life-saving support and food assistance to over 100,000 people facing starvation in Somalia. The funds will be channelled through the World Food Programme (WFP).
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said Wednesday it was releasing the funds which are part of £47 million of aid to immediately provide food, nutrition, water and shelter for vulnerable families in nine countries and regions.
The funds will reach 139,000 people in Somalia who are facing acute food insecurity especially in light of the impact of COIVD-19, weather effects and locusts invasions. Thousands of acres of farmlands have in the last one and half years been destroyed by desert locusts in Somalia.
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the coronavirus pandemic, starvation and conflicts have left millions of people across the globe struggling to survive adding that the new funding will go along way in alleviating suffering.
“This extra emergency UK aid will mean people can feed their families and prevent these crises from escalating into widespread famine. We hope to see other donors step up to the plate with some extra funding to prevent these global crises getting worse,” said Raab.
The extra UK aid announced today will help continue momentum and pressure other donors to step up with additional financing, the Foreign Office said urging the UN to mobilise more funding to attend to those suffering in various countries.