MOGADISHU, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Over 20,000 Somali children across nine districts risk starving to death in a few months unless the international community continues to provide life-saving aid to the drought-stricken country, a global charity warned on Thursday.
A new survey released by Save the Children and conducted in partnership with Concern Worldwide and Action Against Hunger, shows the number of severe acute malnutrition cases have risen in nearly half of the nine districts assessed.
"The lack of food and rising numbers of severely malnourished children are distressing, to say the least," Save the Children's Country Director in Somalia, Hassan Noor Saadi said.
Saadi said the most recent rains have been erratic and have not performed well enough to guarantee crop growth, and families continue to lose what little remains of their livelihoods and livestock, leaving them with few options to provide for their children, indicating a clear risk of famine.
According to UN, an estimated number of people in need of humanitarian assistance in Somalia has increased to 6.7 million - more than half the population of the country.
The UN says the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate further despite rains which are below average in all areas as the ongoing drought also increases risk of famine-induced displacement in the region.
Save the Children said an estimated 1.5 billion U.S. dollars is needed to help aid agencies working on the ground save lives, of which only 550 million dollars has been funded to date.
The charity called on the international community to continue funding the drought response in Somalia.
"The first half of the year saw significant levels of support from donors, which allowed us to help nearly 1 million vulnerable children. But these funds will soon run out, leaving millions at risk unless additional funding is made available," Saadi said.
The charity said a series of indicators tied to malnutrition, food supplies and mortality rates must be met for a famine to be declared.
The survey results show the nutrition indicator is pointing to famine-like conditions in some areas of the country.
Drought-related diseases like cholera have also been persistently high across the country, causing thousands of deaths and leaving already weakened children even more vulnerable.
