Aid agencies urge donors to swiftly fund Somalia drought crisis

Aid agencies on Tuesday called on donors to urgently fund the drought crisis in Somalia where 7.7 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian aid.
The agencies, including Save The Children, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Action Aid, Care International, among others under the umbrella of the Somalia Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Consortium, expressed deep concern about the lives of millions of Somalis facing severe food crisis and are in urgent need of humanitarian aid. 
“We call upon all donors, including institutional donors, corporates, foundations, and individual philanthropic donors, to urgently fund the current humanitarian appeal in order to respond to the escalating drought crisis in Somalia before it is too late,” the agencies said in a joint statement issued in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.
The agencies said 98 percent of the current Somalia humanitarian appeal of 1.46 billion U.S. dollars has yet to be met and remains severely underfunded. 
The aid agencies said 7.7 million people in various locations across Somalia are currently witnessing a shocking increase in humanitarian needs as the rains fail for a third consecutive season – possibly the worst drought in 40 years.
The agencies said a predicted 1.4 million people will be displaced in the coming months, congesting already overcrowded displacement camps and generating conflict over resources.
“There is a current outbreak of diarrhea due to lack of sufficient clean water and hygiene services, and malnutrition is on the increase across the most drought-affected states,” the organisations said.
Experts are warning of a risk of famine as predictions for the next rainy season are worrying. 
The agencies warned that the next few months are, thus, extremely critical to urgently respond to the needs on the ground. 
“We, local and international NGOs, stand ready to increase our response to meet the need. Many of us, thanks to donor support and private funding, are already scaling up our existing programming to better meet the people’s needs,” they said. -Xinhua