Mogadishu:- Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Representative to the United Nations, announced that the United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, will provide more than 41 million dollars in funding to save lives and meet humanitarian needs in Somalia.
“The humanitarian situation in Somalia is as dire as any in the world right now,” said Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield during a speech on food security in Mogadishu. The combination of the climate crisis; the supply chain crisis sparked by COVID; and conflicts – like the one caused by al-Shabaab, has brought that horrific word back to Somalia – famine.
“Famine is the ultimate failure of the international community. In a world abundant with food, entire communities should never, ever starve to death. I refuse to accept that failure,” said Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield. “When the longest drought in Somalia’s record led to initial famine projections, the United States took action.”
Since the beginning of 2022’s fiscal year, the United States has provided 1.3 billion dollars of life-saving assistance to Somalia. U.S. funding last year accounted for more than 80 percent of the World Food Program’s emergency operations in the Horn of Africa. Four times greater than the contributions of all other countries combined. That aid has brought food, water, and shelter to the Somali people. As the United States surges support, it continues to work with all levels of Somalia’s government to increase security, and ensure humanitarian and development resources reach communities recently liberated from al-Shabaab.
This new assistance comes as the drought intensifies following a fifth failed rainy season, putting people at risk of further devastation and despair. Today’s new funding bolsters U.S. famine prevention efforts with a targeted focus on addressing extreme food gaps, treating severe malnutrition in women and children, and combating the current outbreak of deadly diseases like measles and cholera.
