The United Kingdom’s Special Envoy for Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Affairs, Nick Dyer, announced an additional $8 million (£5.5 million) package for Somalis to deal with the effects of the extreme drought in Somalia.
The $8 million is in addition to the $10 million packages, which was announced by the UK’s Minister for Africa, Vicky Ford in January 2022, during his visit to Kenya as part of a three-country East Africa visit.
Dyer visited Somalia this week to call for an effort to prevent millions of people from losing their lives to the threat of famine. The additional $8 million funding will provide vital assistance to vulnerable families across Somalia. They will be provided cash by the government to buy urgent food supplies and water.
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Dyer met with Jubaland State President, Ahmed Madobe and South West State President, Mohamed Abdiaziz Hassan Laftagareen. They are the two leaders of the worst affected regions of Somalia.
Dyer also met with Somalia’s Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble. Reportedly, they discussed the severity of the humanitarian needs in Somalia. Dyer said that the current situation might lead to extreme losses and further instability in the country unless action is taken now. Dyer said, “We know from 2017 when we and partners acted early, lives were saved.”
Reportedly, 50 per cent of the population needs humanitarian assistance in Somalia. Reportedly, more than 271,000 people have already left their homes in search of food and water. Recently, the government of Somalia said that millions of people in Somalia are in urgent need of food assistance.
Climate change is driving extreme weather events across the Horn of Africa, worsening pre-existing drought. The ongoing conflicts in the countries are destroying livelihoods. The worst drought in decades led to millions of people being dependent on food aid. The United Kingdom is supporting Somalia to fight the humanitarian crisis through critical infrastructure development, such as the development of water dams.
