Ukraine War: ‘Mass death’ of children without global aid as conflict exacerbates worst drought in 40 years | World News
UNICEF has told Sky News there would be a mass death of children in the Horn of Africa without international help, as the worst drought in 40 years was made worse by war. in Ukraine.
Jamal Abdi Sarman, who works for the United Nations charity for children, said: “Statistics show that the level of malnutrition among children is higher than the 2011 famine.
“That potentially suggests a possible famine in the near future. If an intervention doesn’t go as expected and quickly, we will certainly see mass deaths of children in the coming months.”
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Women gather outside the hut of a baby and seriously ill mother
The dire prediction was made by what Sky News witnessed in the arid hinterland of the self-declared republic to the east of Berbera.
In the villages that emptied quickly, everyone knew what was coming.
We traveled for two hours inland, across dry riverbeds and past abandoned house after farm.
In the village of Geyodadheer, two of the three wells have dried up and half of the people here have been unable to feed themselves after the death of the livestock.
At the last remaining well, herds of camels are watering their animals. Even the most resilient desert animals are suffering in these extreme conditions, they say.
“The drought is bad,” said one, “but worse is coming.”
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‘Worst drought in a generation’
There is no doubt about that. Temperatures have yet to peak in the summer, and the rains look set to be dormant for a fourth year.
Somaliland, “Self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Somaliland”is a hot, dry African country.
It expects drought but also many years of rest. In bad years, people leave villages and go to camps in the hope of being fed, then return when the rain returns.
But the rains that have been four years have not returned.
Herdsmen provide water for their camels from the only working well in the area
Outside a village, we met the regional governor, Ahmed Mohamed.
He told us that the outside world had to send help, food and water, but he said the war in Ukraine was also making matters worse.
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At Somaliland’s main flour mill, they are running out of grain. 90% of the country’s grain comes from Russia and Ukraine. They haven’t had a shipment for three months.
Its four cellars must have been full, but only one and a half had seeds.
Manager Tarek Saif told Sky News that he couldn’t sleep at night, he was worried about the workforce and the people of Somaliland.
If the factory stops production, the republic will lose its main bread supply.
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Why Ukrainian grain is so important
War and drought now haunt Somaliland and the entire Horn of Africa, threatening a humanitarian catastrophe.
UNICEF’s Jamal Abdi Sarman told Sky News urgent international intervention is needed: “So far UNICEF has doubled its emergency call to $250 million and only 20% of that has been funded. assist.”
Aid agencies say declaring a famine may be only a matter of time if more is not done.
In 2011, a quarter of a million children under the age of five died. The world needs to act now to prevent a repeat of a disaster on a similar scale.
