1992: Somalia and scaling up for the food crisis

In 1992, a major food crisis hit Somalia. Thank goodness Save the Children was already on the ground and we scaled up our work to reach 25,000 children a day with lifesaving food. We’re still in Somalia, providing access to medical care in difficult conditions.  At this internally displaced person (IDP) camp 1-year-old Fatuma Ali is getting her check up.

Save the Children already had a health programme in Somalia so the Maternal and Child Health Clinics were expanded to include feeding centres.  13 centres covered both areas of the hostilities. 25,000 young malnourished children were fed everyday with bowls of UNIMIX porridge cooked in great cauldrons twice a day.  Severely malnourished children had extra food.

Most children arrived with disease and were treated and all immunised. Gradually most of the children recovered.

Save the Children also organised water and agriculture programmes to enable communities to become self-supporting again.

We’re sharing  gold moments in our race against hunger throughout the Olympics:

01/08 Our race against hunger began in 1919

02/08 1921: The Russian Famine

08/08 Starting the search for long term solutions

09/08 Somalia and scaling up for the food crisis