A report given at the Emergency Miniterial-level meeting in Rome on July 25th 2011 on Drought emergencies and specifically food insecurity.
Drought has caused famine in parts of Somalia and killed tens of thousands of people in recent months. The situation could get even worse unless proper action is taken urgently. In the Bakool and Lower Shabelle areas, acute malnutrition tops 50 percent and death rates exceed six per 10,000 people per day. Droughts have been a regular occurrence in the past in many parts of the world with grave consequences on food security and malnutrition. With climate change, severe droughts are likely to occur more often and to affect larger areas. The international community needs to rapidly tackle the current humanitarian disaster in the eastern part of the Horn of Africa. It also must consider longer-term measures to deal with the devastative impacts of droughts.