00:00In this camp for displaced persons on the outskirts of Mogadishu,
00:05a dozen men conduct their evening prayers before breaking the fast.
00:10But instead of the traditional iftar feasts,
00:13there's only a small plate of dried dates to share between them.
00:18We had to leave our farms and our animals behind,
00:21and now we're living on the edge of the city.
00:24Ramadan is going to be very hard for us,
00:27but people here are trying their best to stay strong.
00:31The UN estimates some 6.5 million Somalis
00:35are currently experiencing crisis levels of food insecurity,
00:38a number that's more than doubled in the past year,
00:42with the country experiencing its second consecutive failed rainy season.
00:47Over 1.8 million children are at risk of suffering acute malnutrition
00:52due to the worsening drought in 2026.
00:55This drought is attributable to below-average rainfall
00:58during the dear rainy season late last year.
01:01In addition to the effects of climate change,
01:04substantial funding cuts over the past year
01:06have compelled humanitarian partners to scale back
01:10or to suspend critical life-saving programs.
01:13As crops dry up and herd animals die of thirst,
01:17Somalia is also facing a drastic reduction in humanitarian assistance
01:22following cuts in U.S. funding.
01:24Aid agencies now warn of looming famine and are urgently calling for international donors
01:30to step up to help sustain emergency food programs.
01:33Somalia is literally at the brink of a humanitarian crisis.
01:37What we are lacking is resources.
01:40And we need resources now to be able to prevent a further deterioration of the situation.
01:49The World Food Programme was recently forced to scale back operations in Somalia by nearly 75 percent
01:55and warned last week it will have to stop providing aid altogether
01:59if it doesn't receive new funding by April.
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