Around 258 thousand people died in Somalia by famine

According to a study carried out by the Organization of United Nations (UN) and the U.S. Agency of international Cooperation (USAID), which was published on Sunday, around 258,000 people died during the famine that hit Somalia the last two years, between October and April of 2012.

The report which was involved the analysis unit of nutrition and food security in Somalia (FSNAU) and  the United Nations Organization for Food and Agriculture (FAO), said that of the total of dead people, some 133,000 correspond to children under five years old.

The number of deaths corresponds to 4.6 percent of the population of the South and center of the country, where the UN declared six regions in a State of famine. The study indicates that of these percentage, the most affected were Bajo Shabelle, where 18% of children under 5 years old died from famine, followed by Mogadishu with 17%, and Bay, with 13%. The country has about 10 million inhabitants.

“The document confirms that we should have done more before the (official) statement of  famine from July 20 of 2011″, said Philippe Lazzarini, who is in charge in Somalia of the Office for the coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) of the United Nations.”

The official says that this organization is striving “to invest in the people and communities of Somalia and break the cycle of crisis and response as well”, so “Somalia will never again suffer a famine”.