Somali’s president declares ‘national disaster’ over drought
Mogadishu — Somali’s newly elected President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed on Tuesday declared a "national disaster" due to severe drought which aid agencies say has left 3-million people in crisis. The Horn of Africa nation is one of three countries — along with Yemen and Nigeria — on the verge of famine which has already been declared in South Sudan. The presidency put out a statement, saying: "The president has appealed to the international community to urgently respond to the calamity in order to help families and individuals to recover from the effects of the drought disaster to avoid humanitarian tragedy." The World Health Organisation warned on Monday that Somalia was at risk of its third famine in 25 years. In the previous one, in 2011, 260,000 people died. The agency said more than 6.2-million people, or half the population, needed aid urgently, including almost 3-million who are hungry. The drought causing the food crisis has also led to the spread of acute watery diarrhoea, c...
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