Climate change-caused drought in Somalia has left 70% of families in the country without access to safe drinking water and in urgent need of humanitarian support, according to the non-profit organization Save the Children.

“Thousands of children are now reliant on emergency water trucking and unprotected wells or are forced to leave their homes in search of water,” it said in its latest report.

Reduced rainfall and severe water shortages are also killing livestock, causing crop failures and diminishing household incomes, leaving children in these families with fewer daily meals and less nutritious food, the report warned.

The loss of livestock also further exposes children in Somalia to the risk of malnutrition as they have less access to milk, Save the Children said.

“As the negative impacts of climate change intensify, the frequency and severity of extreme weather events in Somalia are increasing. In the past year alone, Somalia experienced severe floods, the most powerful cyclone to ever hit the country and now a looming drought. Communities are struggling to survive as they have no time to recover before the next crisis hits,” it said.

The report stressed that without immediate humanitarian aid, the crisis in Somalia is likely to peak in June, with the number of children and adults in urgent need of humanitarian support soaring to 5.9 million.

"The international community has been very generous in supporting people in Somalia. However, to reduce support now would be disastrous, as the deadly combination of continuous climate shocks, COVID-19 and conflict are pushing children and their families to the limit and they need urgent support to help them survive," it warned./aa