Somalia: Girls face heightened risk as hunger crisis worsens
14 May 2026Six million people – nearly one in three Somalis – are experiencing critical shortages of food.
Somalia is facing a deadly hunger crisis made worse by soaring food and fuel prices linked to the Middle East conflict; a years-long climate change induced drought; and chronic internal instability, according to a new report released today by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
The report found that six million people – nearly one in three Somalis – are experiencing critical shortages of food. Of these, 1.9 million are facing emergency levels of hunger, just one step away from famine conditions.
Millions are now at immediate risk of starvation in the country as conflict-driven price rises continue to push basic food supplies out of reach for families already devastated by repeated failed rainy seasons.
Sadia Allin, Plan International’s Country Director in Somalia, said:
“In Somalia millions are waking up each day not knowing where their next meal or drop of water will come from. Families are walking for miles under a relentless sun, searching for something as basic as water. And in the harshest places, lives are being lost—not suddenly, but slowly, painfully, and far from the eyes of the world. Mothers are watching their children’s lives and their future is slipping away needlessly.
“Today’s alarming report highlights just how far-reaching the humanitarian consequences of the Middle East conflict have become. The climate crisis had already decimated Somalia’s food supply, with years of drought killing off the livestock and crops that families need to survive. But now, imported food and fuel are becoming prohibitively expensive and families in Somalia, already facing severe food insecurity, are now being pushed to the brink.
“Rising malnutrition puts children in Somalia at serious risk and girls are especially vulnerable: in times of scarcity, they are often the last to receive food. They are also more likely to be pulled out of school, while the risks of early marriage and exploitation increase sharply as families struggle to survive.
“We cannot afford to repeat the kind of tragedy witnessed in the 2011 Somalia famine, when a quarter of a million people died, most of them children under five. Now we have the chance to save lives, livelihoods and protect dignity.
“Without an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East and a significant scale-up in humanitarian funding, children in Somalia will continue to pay a heavy price for a crisis out of their control.”
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