Somalia children hit hard by aid cuts: UN

The UN says more than 200 health and nutrition facilities have closed across drought-stricken Somalia due to deep cuts in international aid, with UNICEF spokesperson James Elder reporting a 32% rise in children admitted for severe acute malnutrition in the first half of the year. Nearly 1.9 million children are projected to face malnutrition this year, including close to half a million with its most severe form.

Elder warned that under worse funding scenarios, as many as 618 health facilities nationwide could close, threatening nutrition services for nearly 1 million children, adolescent girls, and women. Rising fuel and fertilizer costs from the war in Iran, plus a forecast severe El Niño pattern bringing flooding, are compounding the crisis.

More than 78,000 students have already dropped out of school because of the cuts, with 660,000 more at risk, and child protection facilities for former child soldiers have also closed.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.