The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
After a historic drought triggered by five consecutive poor rainy seasons, skyrocketing food prices and an intensifying conflict, Somalia has been lingering on the brink of famine.
Although famine has officially not yet been declared, the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) which describes the severity of food emergencies has drawn a grim picture.
“The IPC Report found out about 6.4 million Somalis are facing acute food insecurity in the coming months”, said Etienne Peterschmitt, the Somalia Representative for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) when talking to media at the United Nations in Geneva. “That number could increase to 8.3 million people by April next year, and the number of Somalis facing catastrophic food insecurity, or famine conditions, could increase to over 700,000 people by June 2023”.
According to FAO, humanitarian assistance needs to be both scaled up and sustained to prevent famine in Somalia. The prolonged drought conditions have left pastoral, agropastoral and farming communities unable to cope and as their livelihoods collapse, many are leaving their homes and moving to already crowded displacement camps in towns to seek humanitarian assistance.
“While the situation remains dire, there is still time to turn the tide by addressing the immediate needs of rural communities who are among those who are at greatest risk from a food security but also nutrition, health as well as water and sanitation perspective”, noted FAO’s Mr. Peterschmitt.
The affected rural communities require urgent assistance between now and June 2023, with famine projected in three areas if assistance doesn’t reach the most vulnerable. Approximately 1.8 million children are of particular concern, including over 500,000 of them who are likely to be severely malnourished till July 2023.
“Earlier projections of famine have so far been averted because funding to humanitarian assistance has covered a sufficient portion of the most basic needs for a few months at a time, keeping Famine thresholds at bay – at least for now,” stressed Mr. Peterschmitt.
The generous funding has also allowed the World Food Programme (WFP) stepping up to deliver life-saving food and nutrition close to 5 million people in November.
“The longest drought in over 40 years is still ongoing, with no end in sight”, said El-Khidir Daloum, WFP’s Somalia Country Director. “It is still destroying lives and it is still killing people. On the ground, we see the impacts every day. We hear from the people whose children have died on the journey after leaving their homes in search of assistance.”
WFP stresses that significant investment in resilience programmes that combine nutrition, education, livelihoods, and long-term food security support are needed as the way forward. Even if the worst outcomes of this drought could be kept at bay, the next drought could come back again, warned WFP’s Somalia Country Director.
”We must also continue to invest in recovery and in long-term, sustainable solutions, under the leadership of the Government of Somalia, to protect Somalis against future climate shocks. The current drought it is unusually long but it is not an isolated incident in a country on the front lines of the climate change.”
-ends-
STORY: Somalia Update – Food security FAO-WFP
TRT: 2 min 17s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 20 December 2022 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Medium shot, UN Geneva flag alley.
- Wide shot, press room with spokesperson and panel of speakers on screens.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Etienne Peterschmitt, FAO Somalia Representative:” The IPC Report found out about 6.4 million Somalis are facing acute food insecurity in the coming months. That number could increase to 8.3 million people by April next year, and the number of Somalis facing catastrophic food insecurity, or famine conditions, could increase to over 700,000 people by June 2023”.
- Close-up shot, hands typing on laptop
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Etienne Peterschmitt, FAO Somalia Representative:” While the situation remains dire, there is still time to turn the tide by addressing the immediate needs of rural communities who are among those who are at greatest risk from a food security but also nutrition, health as well as water and sanitation perspective”.
- Close up, journalists listening.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Etienne Peterschmitt, FAO Somalia Representative: “Earlier projections of famine have so far been averted because funding to humanitarian assistance has covered a sufficient portion of the most basic needs for a few months at a time, keeping Famine thresholds at bay – at least for now”.
- Medium shot, journalists writing with screens of speakers in the background.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - El-Khidir Daloum, WFP Somalia Country Director:” The longest drought in over 40 years is still ongoing, with no end in sight. It is still destroying lives and it is still killing people. On the ground, we see the impacts every day. We hear from the people whose children have died on the journey after leaving their homes in search of assistance.”
- Medium shot, journalists taking notes.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - El-Khidir Daloum, WFP Somalia Country Director:” We must also continue to invest in recovery and in long-term, sustainable solutions, under the leadership of the Government of Somalia, to protect Somalis against future climate shocks. The current drought it is unusually long but it is not an isolated incident in a country on the front lines of the climate change.”
- Medium shot, pressroom with journalists.
- Close-up, journalist writing by hand.
- Close-up, journalists listening.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Gaza: One million receive food parcels as humanitarians race to ‘push back hunger’
Food is slowly returning to the shelves in Gaza amid “apocalyptic scenes” but supplies are still desperately inadequate, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday, as they issued fresh calls for wider access and continued financial support.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today told the bi-weekly UN press briefing in Geneva of more details that are emerging on the atrocities committed in El Fasher, in Sudan during and after its takeover by the Rapid Support Forces.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , WHO
Sudan: UN Raises Alarm Over Mass Atrocities in El Fasher as Survivors Report Executions, Killings and Rapes
More details continue to emerge about atrocities committed during and after the fall of El Fasher to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan on 23 October. Since the powerful paramilitary group made a major incursion into the city last week, the UN Human Rights Office has received “horrendous accounts of summary executions, mass killings, rapes, attacks against humanitarian workers, looting, abductions and forced displacement,” said Seif Magango, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
Ukraine: Russian attacks on energy terrorize population as winter starts; could trigger major ‘crisis within crisis’
The UN’s top aid official in Ukraine expressed concern on Friday about “continuous attacks” on energy production sites and distribution facilities.
1
1
1
Edited News | HRC
Navi Pillay Retires After Decades Defending Human Rights and Pursuing Justice
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The telecommunications shutdowns in Afghanistan in September had serious and far-reaching impacts on people’s lives, according to a briefing paper published today by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence at the UN Geneva press briefing made the following comment on the ASEAN declaration on the right to a healthy environment.
1
1
1
Edited News | IFRC , OCHA , WMO
‘Catastrophic’ Hurricane Melissa hours from landfall in Jamaica as humanitarians rush to save lives
Millions in Jamaica and across the Caribbean are bracing for massive impact from Hurricane Melissa on Tuesday as the UN and partners are warning of a “severe” and “immediate” humanitarian threat.
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘We need all routes to open’: in Gaza WHO calls for ramp-up of medevacs, easier access for essentials
Two weeks since a ceasefire agreement entered into force in Gaza the World Health Organization (WHO) noted progress on the flow of aid while calling for more evacuations of critical patients and eased entry for essential medicines and supplies.
1
12
1
1
Edited News | WMO , UNITED NATIONS
UN chief urges boost to life-saving weather warning systems, stresses role of climate change science
No country is safe from the devastating impacts of extreme weather — and saving lives means making early-warning systems accessible to all, UN chief António Guterres said on Wednesday.