What major threat is Somalia currently facing?

Somalia is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. According to CARE International, nearly half a million childrenare at risk of dying from hunger as severe malnutrition sweeps across the country — just as international aid is being scaled back.

The country, long plagued by civil war, climate disasters, and the Al-Shabaab insurgency, is still reeling from back-to-back extremes: a prolonged drought followed by devastating floods in 2023 that displaced nearly 1 million people.

A recent UN-backed report estimates that 1.8 million children under five in Somalia are currently malnourished, with 479,000 in severe condition, requiring urgent intervention to survive.

CARE's Somalia director, Ummy Dubow, shared heartbreaking stories from the field: mothers skipping meals, children wasting away, and young girls pulled from school just to help families survive.

Making matters worse, this year’s UN humanitarian aid plan for Somalia is only 11% funded, forcing relief organizations to cut back life-saving services. In some areas, the number of people in emergency conditions has surged by 50%.

Without immediate international support, CARE warns that “overstretched and under-resourced facilities will buckle — and lives will be lost.”