“Famine is at the door” of Somalia, UN says

The United Nations said Monday it will likely declare famine in the Southern Bay region of Somalia. UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths told reporters that he was shocked during a recent visit at the sight of starving babies too weak to cry. Over 850,000 people reside in areas affected by a historic drought, and more than 1 million have been driven from their homes to stagger through the desert in search of assistance, often burying family members along the way. The Horn of Africa has witnessed four straight failed rainy seasons—a phenomenon unseen in over half a century.

What’s being done to help? Not enough, according to the UN. Aid funding has dropped by more than 60 percent compared to the world’s response to the country’s 2017 drought, USAID Administrator Samantha Power said last week.  

Dig deeper: Read Kim Henderson’s report in WORLD magazine on the disaster response to a recent wave of tornadoes in Kentucky.