IRC, fellow humanitarian agencies urge greater response to famine in Somalia

With the drought crisis in Somalia today declared a famine by the United Nations,  the International Rescue Committee and 77 other members of the Somalia NGO Consortium issued a statement urging the international community to act quickly to save lives.

More than 3.7 million Somalis, or half of the entire population, are in need of humanitarian assistance. In some areas in the south of the country more than half of the population is malnourished and more than one in four people are severely malnourished.  The UN has reported an average of 1,300  Somali refugees arriving in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp each day since June 19.

In their joint statement, the organizations noted that the humanitarian response in Somalia has been chronically underfunded, and inadequate to meet emergency needs and to effectively respond to the deteriorating situation. They called for increased funding for emergency relief and long-term recovery for Somalia and for neighboring Ethiopia and Kenya.

You can read the full statement here.

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