'The window of opportunity to act is shrinking rapidly': More than one million children are at risk of acute malnutrition in Somalia

More than half of children aged under five in Somalia are facing acute malnutrition with one in six suffering from the most deadly form.

The Horn of Africa nation is on the brink of a second famine in just over a decade, enduring its worst drought in 40 years after failed rainy seasons since late 2020 wiped out crops and livestock.

With a fifth monsoon forecast to fail, the United Nations warned this month that time was running out to save lives as it urged donors to contribute more to the relief effort.

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said the situation was worse than the 2011 famine when 260,000 people died in the country, more than half of them children under the age of six.

Aid is slowly making its way to Somalia following delays caused by the war in Ukraine, which also sent the cost of transport and emergency supplies soaring.

"Around 730 children are reported to have died in nutrition centres across the country between January and July"

But many fear the help will arrive too late for the country's youngest victims, with around 730 children already reported dead in nutrition centres between January and July this year, according to UNICEF.

"Malnutrition has reached an unprecedented level," said Wafaa Saeed, the Somalia representative for the UN children's agency UNICEF.

"Around 730 children are reported to have died in nutrition centres across the country" between January and July, she told reporters in Geneva via video-link from Mogadishu.

"This is less than one percent of the children who were admitted, cured and discharged. But we also feel that this number could be more, as many deaths of children go unreported."

Save the Children estimated that the number of children suffering acute malnutrition had risen to 1.8 million – more than half of them are under-fives. 

“Never has the severity of this hunger crisis in Somalia, which is extending across the Horn of Africa, been so dire," Save the Children’s Country Director in Somalia, Mohamud Mohamed Hassan, said.  

"The window of opportunity to act and stop this suffering is continuing to shrink rapidly. Children are already dying. The services set up to combat malnutrition and hunger in Somalia are simply not enough to meet the huge and increasing levels of need," he added. 

 “With the number of climate-related disasters tripling in the past 30 years, frequent and recurring climate shocks – such as drought, flooding, and cyclones – are repeatedly decimating farming and livestock, driving population displacement, and pushing millions into acute hunger."

"Children are already dying. The services set up to combat malnutrition and hunger in Somalia are simply not enough to meet the huge and increasing levels of need"

Four consecutive poor or failed harvests since 2020, escalating local and imported food prices, the deaths of more than three million livestock, drought and conflict-induced population displacement have combined to create a life-threatening emergency.

Nearly 6.7 million people in Somalia – 41% of the population – are expected to be battling widespread food shortages between October and December this year, which is an increase of nearly 2.4 million people from previous figures.

“The great tragedy of hunger in Somalia is that the country has been one of the lowest contributors to the climate crisis, and yet is feeling the impact most severely. Right now, the Horn of Africa is experiencing an extreme, persistent drought after four consecutive failed rainy seasons – a climatic event not seen in at least 40 years – and it’s set to get worse,” Mohamud added.