Dramatic situation: Millions of people in Northeast Africa are at risk of starvation After the Greek elections: Mitsotakis is sworn in as prime minister

Millions of people are at risk of starvation in Northeast Africa and the lack of financial support makes it difficult for UN humanitarian agencies to help.

In the region’s seven countries, 60 million people don’t always know where to get their next meal, said Dominique Ferretti of the UN’s World Food Program (WFP) emergency response team in Nairobi on Monday. 5.1 million children under the age of five are acutely malnourished in the region.

In Somalia and South Sudan, 83,000 people are in dire need and often only have a chance to eat a few times a week, Ferretti said. In Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, the rainy season is going better than expected, but that is not enough.

The region (Igad) on the Horn of Africa and further west also includes Djibouti, Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda. The crisis has been triggered by conflicts such as the recent power struggle in Sudan, the aftermath of the corona pandemic, outbreaks of Ebola and cholera and high food prices, as well as unprecedented drought in some parts and flooding in others. According to the WFP, the number of people at risk of starvation in East Africa has risen from 26 million in 2016 to 60 million in 2022.

The UN organizations need more money for the region. The appeal for donations from the World Health Organization (WHO) worth $ 178 million is less than 20 percent covered, says WHO representative Liesbeth Aelbrecht. Millions of pregnant and nursing mothers and children are malnourished. “The lives of these children are hanging by a thread,” she said.

It would be an additional disaster if the UN initiative to export grain from Ukraine is not renewed in July, Ferretti said. “Ukraine has always been the breadbasket for Africa and the Middle East.” Russia blocked Ukraine’s Black Sea ports after invading Ukraine in February 2022. Eventually, Moscow allowed internationally controlled grain exports. But it always threatens not to expand the program further. (aeg/sda/dpa)