Somalis Are Going Hungry. Their Government Isn’t Calling It a Famine.
Humanitarian groups say Somalia’s leaders are resisting a formal declaration of famine that could unlock aid and save lives.
A small farming village on the outskirts of Baidoa in southwest Somalia is surrounded by dry land where crops cannot grow
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/06/world/africa/somalia-famine-hunger.htmlNAIROBI, Kenya — A severely malnourished child is admitted to a clinic in Somalia on average every minute of every day. With crops and animals decimated in the worst drought to blanket the nation in four decades, millions of Somalis stand on the brink of starvation in an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
Despite the crisis, the Somali government has for months been reluctant to declare that the country faces a famine, according to interviews with government officials, aid workers and analysts familiar with internal government discussions.
Such an announcement, aid workers said, would allow far more aid to flow — as happened during a 2011 famine — and muster the attention of Western donors who are currently more focused on responding to the fallout from the war in Ukraine.
The government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, which came to power in May, has resisted the designation for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, the fledgling government fears it would undermine the public good will it now enjoys and play into the hands of the terrorist group Al Shabab, just as the military has launched a large-scale offensive against the insurgents, who have plagued the country for decades and are still launching devastating attacks.
The Somali government also worries that a famine declaration would spur an exodus of people from affected areas into major cities and towns, stretching already meager resources and fueling a rise in crime.
And they are concerned that a declaration of famine would deter investors and shift international aid money toward the emergency response — instead of long-term development money to fund health care, education and climate resilience programs.
The president acknowledged the dilemma in September, saying, “The risk is very high to announce a famine.”
Such a declaration, he said, “does not affect the famine victims only, but halts the development and changes the perspectives and everything.”
Over the past several weeks, frustrated aid workers have insisted the threshold for famine has already been reached in some areas and have pushed the government in several meetings to declare a famine to bring attention to the crisis.