Somalia / Critical malnutrition and disease levels in the country will worsen.
MOGADISHU, Somalia, February 26, 2009/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Daily press briefing by the office of the spokesperson for the UN secretary-general
On Somalia, the United Nations today issued an alert to donors concerning two regions in the southern and central part of that country. In that alert, the UN warned that, without immediate funding for nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene operations, the already critical malnutrition and disease levels in the country will worsen.
According to OCHA, there are already more than 200,000 acutely malnourished children in Somalia. Some 60,000 of them are suffering from severe malnutrition and need immediate treatment in order to survive.
The current crisis has been brought on by poor rains, crop failure, the depreciated Somali shilling and security threats against relief agencies.
SOURCE : United Nations – Office of the Spokesperson of the Secretary-General
