Somali Envoy Calls for More UN Aid for Country on Brink of Famine

Somalis who fled drought-stricken areas arrive at a camp for the displaced on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Somalis who fled drought-stricken areas arrive at a camp for the displaced on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
TT
20

Somali Envoy Calls for More UN Aid for Country on Brink of Famine

Somalis who fled drought-stricken areas arrive at a camp for the displaced on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Somalis who fled drought-stricken areas arrive at a camp for the displaced on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)

Somalia's special envoy to the UN sought Wednesday to draw attention to the gravity of the crisis in his destitute country in order to mobilize more aid.

Millions of people are at risk of starvation across the Horn of Africa, which is in the grip of the worst drought in four decades after four failed rainy seasons wiped out livestock and crops.

"We are here to lobby, to bring your attention to the magnitude of this crisis, the level of humanitarian catastrophe in Somalia," Abdirahman Abdishakur told AFP.

During meetings with UN agencies and member states since the beginning of the week, Abdishakur has repeated that there is still "a huge gap" between the promised aid and Somalia's current financial needs.

The UN said at the end of August it had received 67 percent of its $1.5 billion aid target for Somalia. But with the fifth consecutive failed rainy season forecast in the fall, the amount needed will increase.

"If there is not enough humanitarian response... the famine will happen," Abdishakur warned.

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said last week that Somalia is on the brink of famine for the second time in just over a decade.

He said the situation was worse than the famine in 2011 when 260,000 people died, more than half of them children under the age of six.

"We have a very narrow window to save lives," Griffiths warned, speaking alongside Abdishakur at the UN headquarters in New York.

"People are dying today."

And children are being hit hardest. The number of children aged six months to five years suffering from severe malnutrition has shot up from 389,000 to 513,000, according to figures released Tuesday by UNICEF.



Protest Against Gaza War Prevents Israeli Visitors from Touring Greek Island

Two empty chairs stand on a beach as people cool off during a heat wave, near Athens, Greece, 22 July 2025. (EPA)
Two empty chairs stand on a beach as people cool off during a heat wave, near Athens, Greece, 22 July 2025. (EPA)
TT
20

Protest Against Gaza War Prevents Israeli Visitors from Touring Greek Island

Two empty chairs stand on a beach as people cool off during a heat wave, near Athens, Greece, 22 July 2025. (EPA)
Two empty chairs stand on a beach as people cool off during a heat wave, near Athens, Greece, 22 July 2025. (EPA)

A cruise ship carrying Israeli tourists left the Greek island of Syros Tuesday without its passengers disembarking, after more than 150 protesters demonstrated at the island’s port, unfurling Palestinian flags and calling for an end to the war in Gaza.

Carrying banners that read: “Stop the Genocide” and “No a/c in hell” — a reference to the conditions Palestinians face in the Gaza Strip — the protesters chanted slogans on the dock near where the cruise ship, the Crown Iris, was docked on Tuesday, local media said. There were no reports of any violence.

The ship is operated by an Israeli company, Mano Cruise, which said about 1,700 passengers were on board and it is sailing to Cyprus.

Greece’s coast guard said the ship set sail at around 3 p.m., earlier than originally scheduled, but did not immediately have any further details.

“The management of Mano Cruise has decided in light of the situation in the city of Syros to now sail to another tourist destination,” the company said in a press release. “All passengers and crew members are resting and spending time on the ship on their way to the new destination.”

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar contacted his Greek counterpart, George Gerapetritis, over the incident, the Greek foreign ministry confirmed. It did not release any details of their discussion.