UN: Humanitarians urge action to avert famine in Somalia and South Sudan

The threat of famine is very real in Somalia and South Sudan and urgent action is needed now to avoid a catastrophe, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.

Following the latest food security assessments, the World Food Programme (WFP) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) jointly alert that six million people in Somalia-almost double the number at the start of the year- will face acute food insecurity in the coming months, and six areas are already at risk of famine.

South Sudan is facing a similar situation with “two-thirds of the country will likely face hunger between May and July of this year, …the highest number ever recorded.” said FAO Representative in South Sudan. According to the latest IPC data on food insecurity across South Sudan, 1.34 million children and over 600,000 pregnant women are malnourished this year.

The drivers of chronic food insecurity in South Sudan include the civil war that started in 2013 and ended in 2020 and the flooding -- both have driven displacement. And in Somalia, people were displaced by failed rains, and thousands have moved into camps. The WFP is now facing impossible choices as it struggles to scale up its emergency response to 2.5 million people in Somalia, “taking from the hungry to feed the starving”, warned an agency officer.