Somalia child hunger crisis deepens after aid cuts, UNICEF says

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that Somalia’s child hunger emergency is worsening as international aid cuts force the closure of more than 200 health and nutrition facilities. UNICEF said the country recorded a 32 percent rise in the number of children treated for severe acute malnutrition and related complications in the first six months of 2026, while nearly 1.9 million children are expected to be malnourished this year.

The agency and aid groups say the crisis is being driven by a severe drought that has killed livestock, damaged harvests and displaced large numbers of people. UNICEF spokesman James Elder said from Nairobi that the loss of funding is reducing access to healthcare, nutrition support, water, education and protection. He warned that more facilities could shut if funding conditions worsen.

The report adds that Somalia’s humanitarian situation is under strain from several overlapping pressures, including rising food and water costs and the likelihood of more extreme weather. It also notes that funding for acute malnutrition response in some parts of the country has fallen sharply this year, with Western donors among those reducing support. The United Nations says the cuts are putting children, adolescent girls and women at increased risk of losing nutrition services, highlighting how fragile aid-dependent systems can be during climate and economic shocks.