Famine situation in Somalia

Somalia is on the brink of its worst famine in half a century. Drought has become more severe there and global food prices have soared, putting hundreds of thousands at risk of starvation.The United Nations has warned that parts of the country will be hit by famine in the coming weeks – and predicts it will be more severe than in 2011. The 2011 famine killed more than a million people there, almost half of them children.

Climate change is the main reason for this. Somalia – and parts of neighboring Ethiopia and Kenya – have had a failed rainy season for the fifth year in a row.

Declaration of famine

• Famine is declared in an area when severe starvation is already widespread, and when people are dying of starvation due to not having enough nutritious food.

According to the United Nations, in order to be declared a famine zone, the affected area has to fulfill three conditions:-

1. At least 20% of the population is facing acute food shortage,
2. At least 30% of the children are suffering from acute malnutrition,
3. At least two people out of every 10,000 residents are dying each day due to starvation, or a combination of severe hunger and disease.

The decision to declare a famine is usually made jointly by the government and the United Nations. Declaring a famine can be politically controversial as governments see it as a stigma on their regime, while the opposition sees it as a failure of governance and Allegations of inability to provide basic security. Therefore, even though millions of people are affected, a formal famine is not declared.

United Nations

• The United Nations (UN) is an international organization established in 1945. Presently the number of member states involved in it is 193.
• Its mission and work are guided by the purposes and principles contained in its Charter and are implemented by the various organs and specialized agencies of the United Nations.
• The functions of the United Nations include maintaining international peace and security, protecting human rights, providing humanitarian assistance, promoting sustainable development, and implementing international law.

History of the establishment of the United Nations

• In the year 1899, the International Peace Conference was held in The Hague to settle disputes and crisis situations peacefully, prevent wars and codify the rules of war.
• In this conference, the Convention for the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes was adopted and the Permanent Court of Arbitration was established in the year 1902, which started functioning in the year 1902. It was the predecessor institution of the International Court of Justice of the United Nations.
• The predecessor of the United Nations was the League of Nations, an organization first conceived in the circumstances of World War I and established in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles “to promote international co-operation and to achieve peace and security”. was established for.”
• The International Labor Organization (ILO) was also established in the year 1919 as an affiliated agency of the League of Nations under the Treaty of Versailles.
• The name “United Nations” was given by the President of the United States of America, Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the year 1942, 26 countries signed the “United Nations Declaration”, in which they pledged to continue the struggle against the Axis Powers (Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis) by their respective governments and forced them to establish peace. .

Constituent

Main organs of the united nations

1. United Nations General Assembly.
2. security Council.
3. United Nations Economic and Social Council.
4. United Nations Trusteeship Council.
5. International Court of Justice.
6. United Nations Secretariat.

All these 6 organs were established at the time of the establishment of the United Nations in the year 1945.