UN report: Famine coming to Horn of Africa unless world acts
“The possibilities and the horror of famine coming to the Horn of Africa. Here in Somalia, maybe first, but Ethiopia and Kenya probably not far behind.”
The United Nations says famine in Somalia will likely occur later this year. The UN’s humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, said that if dramatic action is not taken by the international community scenes of famine which the world has not seen in years will occur. “This has never happened before in Somalia. So all those pictures that we all grew up with. This is this is unprecedented. And it is for that reason that we’ve been banging the drum and rattling the trees and tried to get support internationally in terms of attention,” said Griffiths.
“The possibilities and the horror of famine coming to the Horn of Africa. Here in Somalia, maybe first, but Ethiopia and Kenya probably not far behind.”
At least 1 million people in Somalia have been displaced by the driest drought in decades that also affects the wider Horn of Africa including Ethiopia and Kenya. Griffiths said that scenes he had seen a hospital in Somalia in recent days were some worst he’d seen in 50 years of humanitarian work.
“We have pictures that we will never share with anyone,” said Griffiths of his trip to the hospital. “I think as bad as bad as it gets.” Griffiths said that he has some hope of staving off the worst if the necessary resources can be gathered from the international community. “This is not a place where money will be wasted. This is a place precisely because of the tragedy in Somalia’s history. People know what to do to save people’s lives here,” Griffiths said to reporters.
