Turkish NGO provides food aid to Somalis suffering from drought

MOGADISHU, Somalia

A Turkish NGO said Monday that it has provided food assistance to 1,000 families in Somalia as a deadly drought continues in the Horn of African country.

The first food aid was provided by the Aziz (Saint) Mahmud Hudayi Foundation in the capital Mogadishu and the city of Baidoa, the capital of the South West state.

The group could “not turn a blind eye” to “drought-stricken people, with their livestock decimated," Mohamud Mohamed Sheikh Ali, head of the MANAR Al-Biri Association for Community Development, the Turkish group's partner, told Anadolu Agency over the phone on Monday.

The IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation last week also announced that it is taking part in a campaign to provide relief from Somalia’s deadly drought.

Somalia is battling the worst drought in decades, with UN and community activists sounding the alarm.

The worst-hit areas are Lower Juba, Bakol, and Gedo, where thousands of livestock reportedly die every day due extreme hot weather and lack of water.

Isaq Ilmi, who is involved in relief efforts and is also a parliamentary candidate, told Anadolu Agency by phone that the region has received a "very little rain" this week but the situation is still "very dire and people need urgent humanitarian assistance."

A youth-led humanitarian relief campaign has started in Dolow, a town located near the border with Ethiopia, as social media influencers and volunteers raised money online and provided food assistance to 400 drought-hit families with food provisions.

According to the UN, over 2.8 million Somali people have been affected and 300,000 displaced by the "worsening" drought.