Starvation in Somalia

According to the United Nations, one child is admitted to the hospital or clinic for treatment of severe malnutrition every minute of every day, on average (Deutsche Welle, November 22, 2022). In Somalia, where almost half the population “urgently needs food,” many cases arriving at the clinics are children in the last stages of starvation and some are beyond doctors’ ability to prevent their deaths. Experts blame climate change and Islamist extremists for the increasingly dire situation.

Somalia is experiencing its worst drought in 40 years, and over 7 million people need food aid. Drought and conflict have displaced 1.6 million people. Over half a million children are acutely malnourished, which means that if they don’t eat soon, they will die. Tragically, no food aid can even enter some regions of the country because of armed conflict in them. And al-Shabab, the extremist group responsible for the conflict, does not seem interested in helping the starving people.

Today the world is filled with strife, suffering, and starvation. It is rife with leaders who seize power caring only about themselves and not about those whose lives are in their hands. However, the trauma and selfishness of this present age is prophesied to end in the not-too-distant future. Jesus Christ is going to return as the King of kings to set up His lasting and abundant kingdom over the earth, and the suffering and starvation of today’s world will become a thing of the past (Psalm 72). To learn more about what this peace and abundance-filled world will be like, be sure to read The World Ahead: What Will It Be Like?