Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine reported that 43,000 people died last year due to an unprecedented ongoing drought in Somalia. In the first attempt to estimate the number of deaths across the country, it was found that half of the fatalities were children under the age of five. The United Nations stated that five consecutive seasons without rainfall have left half of Somalia's 17 million population in urgent need of assistance, although some areas did not declare famine last year, which some experts had predicted.
The research led by the London School indicated that the death toll could potentially be worse than the last major drought that hit Somalia in 2017 and 2018. The report noted that the mortality rate might rise in the first half of 2023, predicting that the total deaths during this period could range between 18,100 and 34,200. During the report presentation in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, UNICEF representative Wafa Said mentioned that these findings provide a grim picture of the destruction caused by the drought on children and their families.
