The Horn of Africa is on its knees due to drought and famine. There are 58,000 children fighting hunger every single day. El Niño is entirely to blame.
From Ethiopia to Somalia, the meteorological phenomenon El Niño – linked to the extraordinary warming of the ocean's surface waters and which influences weather and climate worldwide – is bringing drought and famine to the entire Horn of Africa, with no regard for borders or other artificial barriers.
58,000 Somali children risk dying of hunger if they do not receive adequate care and assistance as soon as possible, according to the United Nations (UN). The African country, particularly the regions of Puntland and Somaliland, is experiencing one of the worst seasons in its history due to the absence of rainfall, which in turn forces the population to live in extreme conditions. "The level of malnutrition, especially among children, is truly severe, with almost 305,000 children under five who are malnourished," said Peter de Clercq, head of the United Nations aid plan for Somalia.
It is not only the youngest, however, who are suffering this fate. The number of Somalis in need of help stands at 4.7 million, of whom 950,000 struggle daily to meet their minimum food requirements, to answer the call of hunger. These figures, gathered in the field by UN officials, come after four years of drought and conflict that have already caused more than 250,000 deaths.
This year's humanitarian response plan for Somalia (2016 Humanitarian response plan for Somalia) has set aside 885 million dollars (792 million euros) in aid solely to address the urgent needs of 3.5 million people – namely to reduce the mortality rate from easily preventable causes, provide basic services and strengthen the protection of the most vulnerable, such as internally displaced people. There are 1.2 million Somalis living on the margins, near or even beyond the border with Yemen.
At the end of January, the UN had already sounded the first alarm over the disastrous, not to say inhumane, conditions in which the populations of the Horn of Africa are living. In Ethiopia, more than 10 million people (out of a total population of 94 million) are living in a state of severe food insecurity due to the worst drought to have struck the country in the past 30 years.