Starving poor of Somalia now suffering thirst
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The impoverished people of Somalia are being forced to surviv e on three containers of water a day for drinking, cooking and washing, Oxfam has said.
Increasingly large numbers of people are dying from dehydration on 40-mile treks to fetch water in scorching temperatures of up to 40C.
"The situation will get worse unless swift action is taken," said Mohamed Elmi, Oxfam's regional programme manager. Somalia is one of the poorest African nations and campaigners are deeply concerned that the drought in the south of the country, which has already struck neighbouring Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Tanzania and Burundi, will hit the nation, disrupted by wars, particularly hard.
The price of containers used to transport water has rocketed to more than a day's wages for most Somalis, said Brendan Cox, an Oxfam spokesman . A water canister that used to cost at least 1p now costs 70p in a region where residents live on pennies a day.
The latest UN report on Somalia said 1.7 million people - 710,000 of them experiencing acute food shortages - needed food assistance of some kind in addition to the 410,000 refugees who depend on food aid.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments