Humanitarian organisations have warned that the huge response to the war in Ukraine is overshadowing other crises around the world that are in need of urgent attention.
Charities and NGOs have begun urging governments and individuals not to forget the millions who are suffering in other countries.
The United Nations has warned that the situation in Somalia, where 4.5 million people are at risk of starvation owing to the worst drought in a decade, is deteriorating rapidly. The focus of the international community on Ukraine was sucking all the oxygen out of the room, Adam Abdelmoula, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, said last week.
The UN has said that $1.46 billion (£1.1 billion) is required to meet the immediate needs of Somalis. Only three per cent of that has been secured.
“The outlook was already grim prior to the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis,” Mr Abdelmoula said. “We have been overshadowed by the crisis in Tigray, Yemen, Afghanistan — and now Ukraine seems to suck all the oxygen that is in the room. . .
UN on Somalia – "If nothing is done, it is projected that, by the summer of this year, 350,000 of the 1.4 million severely malnourished children in the country, will perish." https://t.co/ExlOWiuCtY
— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) April 11, 2022