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Somalis Are Dying of Hunger. Officials Say It’s Not a Famine. Why? [1]
['Declan Walsh']
Date: 2022-12-13
“Even more appalling outcomes are only temporarily averted,” it said.
The reticence of the I.P.C., which is controlled by United Nations bodies and major relief agencies, is not unusual: It has declared a famine only twice in the past decade, in Somalia in 2011 and South Sudan in 2017. The “F-word,” as aid workers archly call it, retains an emotive resonance, able to galvanize global attention and, crucially, to unlock vast amounts of donations. It should be used in only the most extreme situations, the thinking goes.
But Somalia has already plunged deep into that worst-case scenario, according to aid workers, doctors and diplomats who say they are confounded by the I.P.C.’s latest assessment, or believe its methodology is flawed.
The twin crises of food insecurity and climate change are on the agenda at a summit meeting of American and African leaders that starts in Washington on Tuesday.
By the I.P.C.’s own estimates, the number of acutely malnourished Somalis has more than doubled since January to 5.6 million, of whom 214,000 are already in famine-like conditions. How many have died is unknown, but the number is rising rapidly. The World Health Organization will publish its first estimate of drought-related deaths in the coming weeks, a spokeswoman said. Aid officials expect a death toll in the tens of thousands, if not more.
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[1] Url:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/13/world/africa/somalia-famine.html
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