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Somalia faces worst famine in half a century, UN warns
Al JazeeraNov 25, 2022
The Facts
As it set a new United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) goal of $2B, the UN on Tuesday reported that a child is admitted to the hospital every minute for malnutrition in Somalia amid what it says is the nation's worst famine in 50 years.
An estimated 7.8M Somalis — about half the population — are now affected by drought, 213k of whom are at risk of famine. 44k children were admitted to the hospital for severe acute malnutrition in August alone.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
While many factors lead to widespread famines such as this, Putin's decision to not only attack Ukraine but bomb Ukrainian grain supplies en route to Africa is at the top of the list. Droughts have historically caused Somalia and others to rely on Eastern European food imports, and now it's facing a preventable tragedy because of Putin's invasion.
Establishment-critical narrative
The West, led by the US, has been intruding in Somalia for almost 30 years — a fact that's conveniently forgotten when news of a historic famine breaks. Russia didn't cause the displacement, disease, and famine faced by millions of Somalis; the US military's destabilization of the entire country did, starting decades ago.
