It has been 100 days since famine was declared in southern Somalia, and UNICEF is continuing efforts to provide children with immunizations, safe drinking water, therapeutic feeding and other life-saving interventions. Between July and late September, over 110,000 children in the region were admitted to UNICEF-supported health centres for severe and moderate malnutrition.
Despite these efforts, the number of children suffering from malnutrition is rising. Even as rains finally hit Mogadishu, drought continues to plague much of the south, where hunger and disease remain daily companions to families and their children.
Across southern Somali, an estimated 336,000 children under age five are acutely malnourished – and nearly half could die within weeks.
But with help, there is hope.
Read more about the situation in East Africa.