By Ijeoma Agbafo
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has appealed for urgent assistance for Somalia, particularly its Northern regions, as millions face worsening hardship caused by severe drought, dwindling aid and prolonged conflict.
In its latest humanitarian report released on Sunday, OCHA said the cumulative impact of drought, flooding, insecurity and reduced humanitarian funding had severely weakened the resilience of Somali households, with about 250,000 people directly affected by the worsening drought, especially in coastal and remote communities.
The agency said authorities had warned that more than 570,000 people urgently required access to safe water, while about 1.5 million needed food assistance.
It added that the Somalia Humanitarian Fund had committed 4.7 million dollars to support relief efforts in the famine-risk Buurhakaba district of Bay Region, including a recent two-million-dollar emergency allocation.
OCHA also warned that malnutrition was rising, with more than 400,730 children suffering from acute malnutrition, including 97,150 severe cases. It noted that reproductive health and emergency obstetric services remained inadequate, particularly for nomadic communities.
The agency further reported that the drought had disrupted education, forcing the closure of more than 820 schools, and called for increased international support to avert a deeper humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa.
