Somali Magazine 3 September 2023- According to a UK-based humanitarian organisation, a quarter of all Somalis are now displaced owing to drought and violence, as the country’s displacement crisis reaches historic proportions.
According to the Islamic Relief study, which was issued late Wednesday, more than 4.3 million people are internally displaced within Somalia, the largest amount ever recorded in the nation, which has a population of roughly 17 million people.
The drought in Somalia has not only killed people and livestock, but has also damaged crops, raising food prices and forcing many people into poverty, according to the report, which cited remarks by Farhan Abdirizak Adan, an Islamic Relief project officer based in Baidoa, one of the country’s worst-affected cities.
“I see so many women in the camps wearing white headscarves, which signify that their husbands have died from war or hunger,” he was cited in the article as adding.
He went on to say that the situation in Baidoa is out of control, and that more people are arriving every day.
“It’s heartbreaking to see people come here in the hope of receiving aid, but there isn’t enough, so they have to wait weeks to begin receiving food.” During that period, many lost loved ones due to famine. Many more people would die of starvation if aid did not exist, but humanitarian organisations are underfunded, and we cannot help everyone,” he continued.
In a statement, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) predicted that El Nino will harm 1.2 million people and inundate 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres) of land in Somalia beginning in October.
El Nino refers to an increase in sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
Riverine villages in Somalia are the most susceptible, with an estimated 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres) of land at danger of flooding, according to the report.
The FAO has emphasised the importance of “action now” in order to protect lives and livelihoods in the nation.
The FAO stated that “there is a narrow window of opportunity to intervene and prevent a large-scale humanitarian disaster.”
With 8.25 million people in need of humanitarian aid, Somalia is one of the region’s worst-affected countries by drought.