MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“The United Nations is poised to declare a famine in parts of Somalia as a humanitarian emergency persists in drought-affected communities across the Horn of Africa.

More than 10.7 million people are in need of assistance as the Horn of Africa experiences its driest period in 60 years, says the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Several humanitarian groups have estimated the number at risk is already over 11 million, as people struggle to cope with persistent drought, high food prices and conflict.

The UN has not yet declared the current food crisis a famine, but Brian Stewart, a distinguished senior fellow at the Munk School for Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, told CBC News that the UN is expected to declare a famine in some areas of Somalia within 48 hours.

In parts of the Horn of Africa, food insecurity has already reached emergency levels — one level below famine. ‘Famine/catastrophe’ is the worst-case scenario on a five-level scale used to gauge food security.

The scale uses several indicators to declare a famine, including acute malnutrition in more than 30 per cent of children, at least two deaths per 10,000 people every day and access to less than four litres of water a day. Large-scale displacement of people, civil strife and pandemic illness are also taken into consideration.” Read more.