UN appeals for food aid in Somalia

The United Nations has asked for some 105 million USD in food aid for one million Somalians affected by the severe drought in the country.

According to the coordinator of UN Humanitarian Assistance, Peter de Clercq, urgent action is needed as the drought could get worse in the coming months.

“The time has come to provide funds to move away from the critical point and avoid a deeper crisis and the deaths,” he said.

The El Nino weather phenomenon has been the cause of the drought that has also left Ethiopia, South Africa and Zimbabwe in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

Somaliland and the semi-autonomous province of Puntland have been heavily affected by the drought.

The UN indicated 385,000 people are in urgent need of food, but the figure could exceed 1.5 million if nothing is done in these areas.

The body appealed for funding of 885 million USD for these regions in February, while the greatest problem they face is the Islamist al-Shabaab group that controls many rural areas.

The 2012 major drought combined with the civil war caused a famine killing more than 250,000.