Rachael Waugh: Somalia on the brink - we need to act

Drought-affected families living in displacement camps in Baidoa, Somalia. Photo / Supplied via Save the Children

OPINION

Last week, my hometown in New South Wales was flooding. Catastrophic floods have swamped roads, forced school closures, cut power, and caused the death of more than 20 people this year alone.

More and more, across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, we are experiencing the impacts of the climate crisis. While we are fortunate to live with infrastructure in place to support us in the face of extreme weather events and disasters, in the Horn of Africa, the impacts of climate change along with the rising inflation prices of basic staples, is causing a mass crisis.

Somalia is on the brink of famine. More than half of children aged under five are facing acute malnutrition (around 1.8 million children) with one in six (more than 500,000) suffering from the most deadly form, according to hunger figures released in September.

In 2011, the last time famine was declared in Somalia, more than a quarter of a million people perished, about half of them children aged under five.

Nearly 6.7 million people in Somalia - 41 per cent of the population - are expected to be battling widespread food shortages before Christmas, an increase of nearly 2.4 million people from previous figures.

According to colleagues working on the ground in Somalia, the severity of the hunger crisis – extending across the Horn of Africa – has never been so dire. With the number of climate-related disasters tripling in the past three decades, frequent and recurring climate shocks - such as drought, flooding, and cyclones - are repeatedly decimating farming and livestock, driving population displacement, and pushing millions into acute hunger.

Children are already dying. The services set up to combat malnutrition and hunger in Somalia are simply not enough to meet the huge and increasing levels of need.

A severely malnourished seven-month-old boy in the arms of his mother at a small village in Somaliland. Photo / Misan Harriman via Save the Children

The great tragedy of hunger in Somalia is that the country has been one of the lowest contributors to the climate crisis, some 0.05 tons of CO2 per capita in 2021, and yet is feeling the impact most severely. Right now, the Horn of Africa is experiencing an extreme, persistent drought after four consecutive failed rainy seasons – a climatic event not seen in at least 40 years – and it’s set to get worse.

In my time working in international development across Africa, Asia and the Pacific, I have had the opportunity to work with communities that have rebuilt after conflict, become more resilient, and addressed complex issues that have led to positive change for children. I’ve seen improvements in education facilities, children’s health and nutrition, family incomes, and the protection of children against trafficking and forced labour. But climate change is threatening years of advancement in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities.

A recent global report from Save the Children, Generation Hope: 2.4 billion reasons to end the global climate and inequality crisis reveals 774 million children around the world are living in multidimensional poverty and high climate risk. Of those, more than 3.6 million are living in Somalia, 35.7 million in Ethiopia and 16.3 million in Kenya.

This multidimensional crisis has implications for children across any number of markers – education, health, child protection, wellbeing – and is creating greater numbers of vilomah (or parents whose children have died) every day.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. As the world meets to discuss climate action, we are asking for five key actions that we believe could save lives.

Rachael Waugh. Photo / Supplied

Double down on climate and inequality through a unified approach. This must maximise potential synergies while at the same time reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and transitioning from fossil fuels at the pace required to limit global heating to 1.5C.

Invest in children and their rights to health, nutrition, education, and protection from violence and poverty. This is a precondition for healthy economies and societies.

Deliver justice at the climate and inequality frontlines to children and communities most affected – through anticipating shocks and building resilience to them, adapting essential services to minimise disruption, and supporting children experiencing losses and damage as a result of the climate emergency.

Listen to children and act on their demands, ensuring they have meaningful say over decisions that affect their lives and the planet.

Shift finance and power globally, so that lower-income and climate-vulnerable countries, like Somalia, which have done the least to contribute to the global climate emergency have the finance they need to deliver on the key entry points listed above and have meaningful influence over the rules that govern the global financing system.

If we are to indeed create a generation of hope, we must act now.

Rachael Waugh is Save the Children New Zealand’s Director of International Programmes. The child rights organisation is currently fundraising to help support the hunger crisis in Somalia.