The director of United Nations' humanitarian operations has reported that more than 850,000 people in Somalia are in urgent need of food and another two million Somalis are considered to be "food insecure."
According to the Associated Press, the country has been torn by decades of armed conflict and has suffered recurring droughts, leaving around a tenth of its 10 million population "in crisis and emergency conditions."
"These figures are very, very large," John Ging told a news conference on Tuesday. "They tell us a simple message, which is that the situation in Somalia for Somalis on the humanitarian side is very grave. It's also very fragile."
Based on the U.N. World Food Program's Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit report, about 857,000 Somalis "require urgent humanitarian assistance." The AP reported that these numbers are "a modest improvement" from the amount of Somalis who needed food assistance, six months ago.
Seventy-five percent of the 875,000 Somalis who are in need of food are reportedly displaced from their homes as a result of "fighting, insecurity and lack of food." Others are in areas that are reportedly difficult to access.
"In 2011, we had a global tragedy where 260,000 people died of famine in Somalia," Ging said. "We are working very hard to help the people recover in circumstances which are extremely difficult - the climate is very harsh and the security situation equally so."
Despite Ging appealing for a $933 million aid to help assist the crisis in Somalia, he told the AP that he only received $36 million, which he called "very ominous."
According to the AP, in 2011, an appeal for Somalia resulted in 86 percent being funded. In 2013, however, only 50 percent was funded.
"Somalis have suffered endlessly for almost 25 years. We cannot be distracted now from our task to stay with them, to help to consolidate these fragile gains ... and this requires funding," Ging said. "We need to keep our attention on Somalia. It's incredibly fragile and we don't want a repeat of what happened in 2011."
