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Tuesday, February 21

Somalia's Drought: Too many mouths to feed

From Somalia faces unprecedented drought; VOA, February 20:
... The U.N. has appealed for more than $800 million to deal with the drought. Yet Somaliland's own National Drought Committee has raised less than $7 million.
“What's coming from the international community, from the donors, even the local fundraisers, the way people are supporting, you find it's just a drop in the ocean. It's not contributing much,” said Mukhtar Mohumed Hassan, of the Save the Children aid group, which delivers water to wells and cash to those who lost all their animals.
Mohamed Musse, of Somaliland's National Environment Research and Disaster Preparedness agency, says the rest of the world is moving too slowly.
“We need help, and we need it immediately,” he said. “[By the time our appeal] goes all the way to New York, somebody approves, by that time people are dead, people are finished.”
For millions in Somalia, surviving the drought is a race against time.
If rains come in April the ones still alive will get a small reprieve; if the rains fail again......

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