UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for “massive international support” for Somalia, which is facing the worst drought in decades.
Five successive failed rainy seasons have led to the worst drought in four decades, wiping out livestock and crops and forcing at least 1.7 million people from their homes in search of food and water.
About half of Somalia's population will need humanitarian assistance this year, with 8.3 million affected by the drought. Seasonal rains in March led to flooding that killed 21 people and displaced more than 100,000.
The UN has launched a $2.6bn call for humanitarian assistance, but the appeal was only 15 percent funded. In 2011, Somalia was hit by a famine that killed 260,000 people, more than half of them children under six, partly because the international community failed to act fast enough, according to the UN.
