Thousands face starvation in drought-hit Somalia

A devastating drought in Somalia has threatened millions with famine.

Some 6.2 million people, half of the country's population, need humanitarian assistance to survive, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).

Almost one million children will be acutely malnourished this year, including 185,000 who are at risk of death, it said.

"There is not enough food at home, and he lost his appetite, then stopped eating; that's why he became the way he is. But our biggest problem is food, we have nothing," said Nuney Moalim, mother of eleven-month-old Yusuf, who has acute malnutrition.

Cholera, which can be deadly for children, is on the rise in Somalia, where drought is killing livestock and driving people to flee in search of water, said Bruce Orina, International Committee of the Red Cross deputy regional director for Africa.

Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed on Thursday said at the UN Security Council meeting that he's created a new ministry to help combat the effects of the devastating drought.

TRT World's Fidelis Mbah reports the crisis from Baidoa, Somalia.

To see the full version of the UNOCHA report, please click.