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.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
“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. <\/p>\n
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/strong><\/p>\n