MOGADISHU — Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud launched a national tree-planting project on Friday. The National Regreening Initiative aims to plant 10 million trees across Somalia as part of efforts to boost biodiversity and climate resilience and curb deforestation amid devastating droughts. President Mohamud planted the inaugural seedlings of a …

ISTANBUL — Climate change is a “very important” issue for Somalia, which has suffered years of drought and famine, the head of the Horn of Africa country’s state-run news agency said on Thursday, hailing a forum on the environment by Anadolu Agency (AA) that he was attending. “There is drought …

MOGADISHU — Humanitarian organizations need an additional US$1 billion in funding to reach 7.6 million people targeted for humanitarian assistance in Somalia. The increased requirement for the 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) comes against the backdrop of rapidly mounting needs and a corresponding scale-up in humanitarian action. “We are facing …

GENEVA — UNICEF warns that an unprecedented number of children are likely to die in drought-stricken, famine prone Somalia without greater, immediate action from the international community to provide lifesaving assistance. Somalia has endured four consecutive years of failed rains and is facing a possible fifth season of drought. This …

DOLLOW — After two days in a small Somali hospital, Abdiwali Abdi seemed to be groping his way towards some sort of recovery. The two-year-old still weighed just 4.6kg (10lb 2oz) – not much more than a healthy newborn. But he had the energy to moan now, and his mother, …

DJIBOUTI — A team from the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is proposing wide adoption of climate-based insurance for animals to reduce risks from continual drought. And for a region now staring at a shortage of rainfall for the past five years, the IGAD Centre for Pastoral Areas and Livestock …

MOGADISHU — The Somali Disaster Management Agency (SoDMA) distributed food supplies to former disabled Somali military veterans in Martini hospital in Mogadishu on Friday. Speaking to the media, the director of the aid department of the Somali Disaster Management Agency (SoDMA), Mrs. Sahra Ali underlined that the aid handed over …

MOGADISHU — Acute malnutrition is surging among children displaced by drought and conflict in a part of central Somalia teetering on the edge of famine, according to a survey conducted by humanitarian agencies. The United Nations warned at the beginning of September that two districts were projected to face famine …

DOHA — Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has announced the launch of its annual “Warm Winter” winterisation campaign. Under the theme “Humanity First: We Give Them Warmth”, the new drive is aimed at providing QR13.5m worth of winter projects/aid for the benefit of 261,300 people in 14 countries. Ali bin …

GENEVA —  In an opening speech to the UNHCR’s Executive Committee, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi appealed to member states to provide protection to people fleeing conflict and persecution, regardless of ethnicity and nationality. The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) reports the number of people forcibly displaced by armed …