HUMAN WRONGS WATCH

A total of 3.4 million people are experiencing crisis levels of hunger, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the global standard for measuring food insecurity.

This is projected to rise to 4.4 million (23 percent of the population) between April and June 2025, when below-average Gu rains are forecast.

A total of 1.7 million children are suffering acute malnutrition and require urgent treatment between January and December. Of those, 466,000 are suffering severe acute malnutrition.

Improved rainfall and continued humanitarian assistance briefly improved food security in Somalia, after hunger peaked at 6.7 million people and famine was projected in late 2022 during its longest drought on record.

A massive scale-up of humanitarian assistance averted famine then. Now hunger is rising again as another drought looms. The World Food Programme (WFP) is responding to both the emergency and long-term needs of the most vulnerable people.

However, a critical funding gap of US$297 million means WFP is forced to prioritize and reduce assistance at a time when hunger is once again on the rise.

Without additional funding, critical WFP operations in Somalia will face pipeline breaks by mid-year.