News outlets report on warnings from UNICEF that hundreds of thousands of women and children in Somalia are at risk of starvation and losing health care services if a funding shortfall is not reversed.

Agence France-Presse: 200,000 kids may starve in Somalia as aid runs dry, UNICEF says
“The United Nation’s children’s agency said Tuesday that 200,000 children may die of starvation this year in war-ravaged Somalia if it does not raise enough funds to provide vital aid…” (5/27).

Reuters: Up to 200,000 Somali children could die from malnutrition: U.N.
“…Only $15 million has been received in the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) $150 million appeal to donor states to provide vital health services to more than three million women and children in the Horn of Africa nation this year, the agency said…” (Nebehay, 5/27).

U.N. News Centre: Funding shortfall threatens vital health services for millions of Somalis, UNICEF warns
“…More than 70 percent of health care in Somalia is provided by UNICEF and its partners, including supplies of medicines, all vaccines, the wages of employees, training of health workers, fuel for generators of water and medical equipment. UNICEF’s spokesperson in Geneva, Christophe Boulierac, told reporters that the suspension of health services would represent an enormous difficulty, in particular for children…” (5/27).