Somalia’s Drought Threatens Half the Population

Somalia’s current drought is threatening half of the country’s population, or about 6 million people, according to the United Nations. Aid agencies have scaled up efforts but say more support is urgently needed…The crisis has once again uprooted hundreds of thousands of people across Somalia, which already has a sprawling diaspora of 2 million people after a quarter-century of conflict. Drought-stricken families are on the move, trying to reach points where international aid agencies are distributing food. The agencies cannot distribute food in areas under the control of al-Shabab, Somalia’s homegrown Islamic extremist rebels who are affiliated to al-Qaida. Somalia’s fragile central government struggles to assert itself beyond the capital and other limited areas. Between November and the end of February, around 257,000 people in this Horn of Africa nation have been internally displaced because of the drought, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Some are moving to urban areas, others into neighboring countries.” (VOA http://bit.ly/2ohrpPs)

Meanwhile…The Norwegian Refugee Council’s latest data shows that 438,000 people in Somalia have been displaced since November, by the worst drought the country has experienced in 20 years. (NRC http://bit.ly/2ohrbaZ)

Quote of the Day:  “This is a multilateral treaty that has already been ratified by 140 countries and counting, and it’s definitely not at risk. One country can choose to park itself, if you will, on the sidelines of a highway that is very quickly taking us toward decarbonization, but [that] does not change the direction of travel of all the rest of the countries.” Christiana Figueres on the U.S. potentially leaving the Paris climate deal (PRI The World http://bit.ly/2ob56Ou)

After years of decline, child marriages are skyrocketing in Yemen. (Because, War) (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/2mQBndt)\