Hiiraan Online
Friday March 10, 2017
Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire making his first speech to Parliament after being confirmed
Mogadishu (HOL) - Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire has made an appeal to Somali traders to contribute to the relief fund and aid their countrymen in their hour of need.
“If there was ever a day Somali people have needed you, today is that day. “, said Prime Minister Khaire “We are asking the traders to help their brothers and sisters in the drought area’s before it is too late."
The humanitarian situation in Somalia is quickly spiralling out of control with nearly 3 million people facing an emergency food crisis. According to aid groups, as many as 250,000 people have been displaced since November due to the drought. Many of them have trekked to Mogadishu in search of feeding centres.
Children are especially at risk with more than 363,000 being acutely malnourished and 70,000 who are severely malnourished and in dire need of life-saving support. The UN estimates that a third of kids from drought-affected areas are at risk of dropping out of school.
The Somali government declared the droughts ravaging Somalia a national disaster and has publicly urged massive funding to avert slipping into a famine as it did in 2011 where nearly 260,000 Somalis died.
The Financial Tracking Service (FTS) says that despite $90m being made available and another $160m pledged, aid agencies still face a $614 shortfall for their operational plan.