UNICEF, was launched from the pages of CNN, Wednesday, July 20, 2011, said as many as 80 percent of children in southern Somalia suffer from malnutrition. The UN says children who suffer from acute malnutrition in Somalia to reach 30 percent. Meanwhile, the death rate increased to two people per 1,000 head per day.
Malnutrition due to starvation caused by drought leading to crop failure, livestock deaths, rising food prices. Prolonged conflict is also one of the causes of the suffering of Somalis. Civil war in Somalia also makes state government is ineffective. Somalia has long been called a failed state.
High food prices make many Somalis who are under the poverty line suffer. The UN noted that at least 20 percent of families in this country suffering from extreme food shortages. Bakool and Shabelle regions are worst affected.
Due to lack of food, every week as many as 5,000 Somalis are willing to walk for days in the heat towards the refugee camp in Kenya and Ethiopia. Currently in Kenya there have been 400,000 Somali refugees, refugee camps but only able to accommodate 90,000 people.
"Nearly half of Somalia's population, 3.7 million people, currently in a critical situation. As many as 2.8 million of whom live in the south," said Mark Bowden, the UN humanitarian aid coordinator for Somalia.
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