About half of children under 5 in Somalia are facing acute malnutrition as poor rains and rising costs drive up hunger levels, with risk of famine announced for the first time in four years, Save the Children said.
New data from the global hunger monitor, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), showed that over 1.88 million children aged 6–59 months are suffering from acute malnutrition, including 493,000 cases of severe acute malnutrition (SAM), a 2% increase since data in February.
In addition, over 6 million people, or one in three people, are now experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity with over 1.9 million people facing emergency levels of food insecurity, signalling urgent action is needed to save lives and livelihoods.
Burhakaba district in the Bay region of southwest Somalia has been classified to be facing the risk of famine through June 2026 – the first time such a classification has been announced in Somalia since the devastating drought of 2022.
This classification means that at least one out of three children are expected to be acutely malnourished, with many more children expected to die from preventable diseases due to complications without urgent intervention.
Failed rains, a sharp spike in food price due to the conflict in the Middle East, depreciation of the Somali Shilling in the south, and conflict‑related displacement have combined to push more people into hunger since the previous forecast in February.
Suad*, 45, a mother of five, is living with three of her children in a makeshift tent at a camp for displaced people fleeing drought and conflict in the outskirts of Kismayo city, Somalia. This is the second time she has sought refuge in this camp, having been displaced four years ago at the peak of Somalia’s worst drought in recent memory.
She told Save the Children: “The situation is very dire. We have nothing to eat. We have nothing to sleep on and cover ourselves at night. You see my small child has even burned himself on the hands while trying to look for something to eat in other houses in the camps.”
Mohamed Mohamud Hassan, Country Director for Save the Children in Somalia, said:
“Somalia is in the grip of a deepening humanitarian catastrophe. Children are dying from preventable causes — malnutrition, disease, displacement — while funding falls far short of what is urgently needed.
“The window to prevent famine in Burhakaba and wider deterioration across Somalia is closing fast. We call on the international community to act now, scale up lifesaving assistance, and ensure that no child dies because the world looked away.”
Save the Children is calling on the international community to urgently increase humanitarian funding to meet the needs of over 6 million people requiring assistance, prioritise support for nutrition and health programmes to prevent child deaths, and invest in longer-term resilience programming.
Save the Children has been working in Somalia since 1951, delivering life-saving health, nutrition, education and protection services.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Save the Children.
