Mothers in a displacement camp in southern Somalia struggle to keep their children alive as drought and aid disruptions deepen hunger, a crisis that now also has a link to the far-away Iran war. On Wednesday, UNICEF chief Catherine Russell visited the Ladan camp in the town of Dollow, to see the situation first-hand. Russell and aid workers say the war has sent shockwaves, caused shipping delays and threatened supply lines because of soaring fuel prices. The U.N. children's agency says it has lifesaving supplies in transit, but shipments now look uncertain and stocks could run out by late April. Hospital staff say they now treat children in extreme condition.
The world's leading authority on hunger crises says famine has spread to two regions of war-torn Sudan. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification says famine is happening in el-Fasher, a major city in the Darfur region, and in Kadugli, a town in the South Kordofan province. Paramilitary forces rampaged through the besieged el-Fasher last week, reportedly killing hundreds of people. Sudan has been torn apart since April 2023 by a power struggle between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The United Nations says more than 40,000 people have been killed, but aid groups believe the true number could be much higher.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims there is no hunger in Gaza, but malnourished children are regularly arriving at Nasser Hospital. The U.N. says starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at the highest levels since the war began. The Gaza Health Ministry says 171 people have died of malnutrition-related causes since July 1, a quarter of them children. Aid has increased in recent weeks, but food remains scarce or unaffordable for many. While the influx of food might help much of Gaza's population, experts say that is not necessarily the case for children who are already severely malnourished. They often require treatment first at a hospital, where vital micronutrients must be replenished before their bodies will be able to properly metabolize food.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims there is no hunger in Gaza, but malnourished children are regularly arriving at Nasser Hospital. The U.N. says starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at the highest levels since the war began. The Gaza Health Ministry says 171 people have died of malnutrition-related causes since July 1, a quarter of them children. Aid has increased in recent weeks, but food remains scarce or unaffordable for many. While the influx of food might help much of Gaza's population, experts say that is not necessarily the case for children who are already severely malnourished. They often require treatment first at a hospital, where vital micronutrients must be replenished before their bodies will be able to properly metabolize food.
Gaza's population is facing the "worst-case scenario of famine" and "widespread death" will occur without immediate action, the leading international authority on food crises has warned. Tuesday's alert by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification — which is still short of a formal famine declaration — follows an outcry over images of emaciated children in Gaza after nearly 22 months of war. The IPC said Gaza has teetered on the brink of famine for two years, but recent developments, including "increasingly stringent blockades" by Israel, have "dramatically worsened" the situation.
U.N. officials, aid groups and experts have warned for months that Palestinians in Gaza are on the brink of famine without formally declaring one. Even though Israel eased a 2 1/2-month blockade on the territory in May, aid groups say only a trickle of assistance is getting into the enclave. Palestinians face catastrophic levels of hunger 21 months into Israel's offensive, which was launched after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. The leading international authority on hunger crises has warned of famine, but has not yet obtained data that would meet its conditions for declaring one.
