São Paulo – The United Nations have reported this Tuesday (18th), in New York, that Somalia is experiencing a food crisis again. According to the operations director for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), John Ging, approximately 2 million Somalis are experiencing food insecurity of some sort. Of those, 857,000 are in “crisis and emergency conditions as concerns food security,” said Ging, according to UN Radio.
The OCHA director noted that 260,000 people died in the North African country in 2011, during a dry spell and food shortage. He said the solution to the dearth of food in the country will only be found in long-term actions and the development of a framework for fighting crises.
Ging said donations are crucial in order for the OCHA to keep catering to the famished. The United Nations estimates that its actions in Somalia will require US$ 1.15 billion from 2013 to 2015. So far, the organization has only raised 50% of that amount. The situation is worst among those who have left their households to flee from conflict. Approximately 1 million people are in this situation.
“There are approximately 2 million Somalis in a food insecurity situation. This is a very high number. They are sending out the message that the situation for Somalis is very serious, and very fragile,” he said.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
