Somali child hunger crisis deepens as facilities close due to aid cuts, UNICEF says

Aug 21 (Reuters) – Nearly 1.9 million children in Somalia are expected to be malnourished this year, with the country seeing a 32% jump in the number of children admitted to facilities with severe acute malnutrition and complications, UNICEF said on Friday.

So far, 205 health and nutrition facilities have closed after unprecedented cuts to humanitarian aid, the United Nations children’s agency said in comments delivered via video call by its spokesperson James Elder. As many as 618 health facilities could close nationwide, he said.

“Fewer facilities mean longer journeys for mums and their babies; longer journeys mean later treatment; later treatment means more severe illness and a greater risk of preventable death,” Elder said.

“This is the wrong moment to retreat. Somalia is confronting a worsening climate crisis – severe drought in parts of the north, conflict and displacement, and, on the back of the war in Iran, rising costs for fuel and fertiliser.”

Funding to tackle acute malnutrition in parts of Somalia has dropped by more than 80% this year, Médecins Sans Frontières said earlier in August, with the U.S. halting funds and other Western countries also cutting aid.

“This all sits side-by-side a terrifying reality in Somalia: this year nearly 1.9 million children are projected to be affected by malnutrition, including almost half a million with severe acute malnutrition, the deadliest form,” Elder said.

(Reporting by Matthias Williams; Editing by Alex Richardson)