UN Secretary General Arrives in Somalia

The United Nations’ Secretary General, António Guterres, has arrived in Somalia. The United Nations is calling Guterres’ visit to the African country an ‘emergency visit’ as the country battles a severe humanitarian crisis.

Somalia, along with other African countries like South Sudan, has been hit by severe famine over the last few months, resulting in the UN declaring these countries as ‘disaster hit’ countries.

In February, an appeal was launched to the UN and other humanitarian organisations to acquire at least US$4 billion in aid for various African and Arab countries struggling with famine.

These countries include Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria and the South Arabian country of Yemen.

Upon his arrival in Somalia on Tuesday, Guterres tweeted that he has arrived and called on the world to help these countries, saying “people are dying [sic] the world must act now to stop this”.

While South Sudan has already declared famine in the country, Somalia seems to be well on its way after it declared a national disaster last week.

During last week, the Somali government stated that at least 110 people had died within 48-hours in a region on the country.

According to the United Nations, more than 5 million people in Somalia desperately need aid.