Somali children are ‘on the edge’ as hunger spreads. UNICEF says Iran war has worsened the crisis
Nurto Madey, a mother displaced by drought, holds her daughter inside her makeshift hut at Ladan internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Dolow, southern Somalia, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohamed Sheikh Nor) 2026-03-27T06:28:20Z DOLLOW, Somalia (AP) — The sound of a crying child is a sign of hope in a crowded displacement camp in southern Somalia — the most malnourished children are too weak to even cry.
For the mothers in the Ladan camp in the town of Dollow , survival is the only thing on their minds — not the Iran war or how UNICEF gets the supplies to keep the place running.
The displaced here have fled the drought that has ravaged swaths of this Horn of Africa nation after four failed rain seasons.
Their crops and livestock devastated, they show up at the camp, often with nothing but their children.
Aid workers at Ladan say the raging war in the Middle East — more than 3,000 kilometers (1,800 miles) away — has made their work harder, disrupting supplies and sending fuel costs soaring.
Raising the alarm UNICEF says it has $15.7 million worth of lifesaving supplies — including therapeutic food, vaccines, and mosquito nets — in transit or being prepared for delivery to Somalia.
But those shipments now are uncertain.
Transport costs could rise by 30% to 60%, and even double on some routes, while delays caused by rerouting and backlog become more likely, the U.N. agency says.
During a visit to Dollow on Wednesday, Catherine Russell, UNICEF’s executive director, said the Iran war has been a “shock to the system” for the agency’s work on the ground in Somalia. “It means that we can’t get supplies in as easily, and that fuel costs are really high,” she said. “It’s another problem that we have to try to deal with, and it means that more and more children will suffer.” At the same time, more than 400 health and nutrition facilities have closed over the past year across Somalia, due mainly to U.S. funding cuts , leaving many communities without access to support.
Aid agencies warn more closures could follow.
All those issues have compounded the situation in Laden, where hunger threatens especially the youngest. “What we’re seeing is that children are really on the edge already,” Russell said.
Grim numbers In Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, the government warned last month that nearly 6.5 million people — out of the population of more than 20 million — face severe hunger as the drought worsens and conflict and global aid cuts intensify the
原文链接: AP News