As Somalia teeters on the brink of yet another famine, many in the humanitarian sphere are calling for an official declaration, which they say will unlock the donor dollars needed to avert many thousands of deaths.
But some, including a top figure at the World Food Programme and local humanitarian leaders, also say that the way a famine is declared is too slow and too complex, leading to unnecessary deaths.
In Somalia, for example, the United Nations’ technical body that officially evaluates famine levels has resisted classifying the country as in famine, although it says one is likely as soon as April. But there are concerns that waiting to declare famine is delaying the large-scale humanitarian response needed, and will lead to avoidable deaths. The last time Somalia experienced famine, in 2011, studies show that half of the 260,000 victims had already died by the time famine was declared.