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UNICEF warned that as families are driven to the edge dealing with increased stress, children face a range of protection risks including child labor and child marriage.

Alongside the severe drought, constraints in the global supply chain that resulted from the conflict in Ukraine have also contributed to food scarcity and price surges in Somalia, the special envoy said.

The delegation also visited the Kaamir IDP settlement camp to get a firsthand experience of the plight of affected people.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, several EU countries made cuts to their national development aid budgets, a trend that is likely to continue due to additional costs incurred by governments due to the war in Ukraine. 

But Mr. Abdishakur, the envoy, defended the government’s military operation, saying Al Shabab was contributing to the suffering by blowing up wells and extorting and taxing civilians.

Turner said the WFP is now reaching more than double the numbers of vulnerable people with aid that it reached earlier this year. She said food assistance alone will not prevent loss of life.

The high-level drought response meeting is coming at a time when there is a severe drought in many parts of the country, as well as an ongoing war against the Al-Shabaab which lost key ground to SNA and local residents.

In Ethiopia, Concern’s activities include cash transfers, water trucking, rehabilitation of boreholes and latrines, water and sanitation, the distribution of food and non-food items, and treatment of malnutrition.

Last week, United Nations Relief Chief Martin Griffiths has visited Somalia's South West state, the epicenter of the country's severe drought.

Somalia is facing its worst drought in 40 years following the failure of the rainy season for 4 years in a row, according to the UN.

It said aid groups on the ground are doing all they can to save lives and livelihoods, noting that by the end of July, they had assisted 5.3 million people.

Mohamud has praised the UN for its continued assistance to the Somali people affected by the drought which is currently on the brink of turning into famine after failed rainy seasons for 4 consecutive years.