Half of children displaced in Somalia are acutely malnourished MSF says

Half of all displaced children in southwest Somalia are acutely malnourished according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF), The New Arab and agencies report on August 11^th.

MSF made this statement on August 11^th, following on from its research in the country. More than 21,000 children under 5 years old have been screened by the charity since January 2026.

Primarily their work focused in Baidoa, the largest city in south west Somalia. The humanitarian charity’s results found “acute malnutrition levels of around 50 percent”.

Mitchell Sangma, a MSF medical coordinator said “it’s not an understatement when I say that a severe humanitarian emergency is unfolding right now in Baidoa”.

The medical expert added that an expansion of their facility has been carried out to cope with the “alarming increase in the number of malnourished children” who need assistance from the charity. He added this increase has occurred since January. As of June 2026, the facility has 120 beds, an increase from the previous 50.

MSF also found through a survey of 888 homes across 14 displacement sites in Baidoa that 98 percent of families were not able to afford three daily meals for every member of the family.

This survey was conducted in July 2026 and is consistent with the work of UN supported experts. The data complied by these experts in June 2026 showed almost a third of the Somali population were suffering from food insecurity. According to IOM UN Migration, 2026 has marked one of the longest droughts in Somalia, decreasing an already short food supply caused by political upsets.

When discussing the health crisis, Sangma said the charity are dealing with “unnecessarily preventable deaths in our hospitals” and 90 percent of children have significant medical issues.

MSF cites a lack in global funding as a cause of these preventable deaths as it causes charities to prioritise lifesaving programs over preventative ones. This means a “vicious circle” is created as patients are re-admitted frequently to hospitals.

In a statement, the medical NGO explained how “Somalia’s humanitarian response plan has been reduced by 40 percent in 2026 and was still less than one-third funded by July”.

Cheona Sankar, an epidemiologist at MSF said that re-admissions are over 60 percent and it is “almost inevitable” that vulnerable people such as children are “going to be readmitted at some point”.

The New Arab plus agencies, Maghrebi.org