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least four people of been killed in a southern city. injuries include a three-year-old. the un's nuclear watchdog says it is obvious that they are attacking a nuclear facility. >> this matter has to do with international law. we are here in this war and we wanted to stop. the war should stop immediately. and the position of the iea is this facility is ukrainian. >> president biden is part of being thousands of americans convicted of marijuana possession under federal law and pledges governments will issue pardons for those convicted of state charges. >> a charge of simple possession of marijuana at a federal level. few people are charged with

simple possession at a federal level. no one will be released from jail as no one -- released from jail for this. a combination of charges is what leads to prison on a federal level. >> joseph morel says the block considers additional sanctions on iran as authorities continue their crackdown on antigovernment demonstrators. rights groups accuse them of using excessive and lethal force against protesters. those are the headlines of the news. we will continue here on al jazeera after inside story. ♪

>> somalia is on the verge of unprecedented famine. the u.n. is warning the nation is facing its worst drought in decades. millions of people are in desperate need, but is aid alone enough, and can a humanitarian disaster be averted? this is "inside story." ♪ hello. welcome to the program. after years of unprecedented drought in somalia, a famine is now expected to be declared within weeks. the united nations says since january last year more than a million people have been forced to leave their homes in search

of food and assistance. humanitarian chief martin griffiths is calling on the international community to deliver aid immediately. we have a lot to get to with our guests but here's my report on first, the situation on the ground. it's been a prolonged drought in somalia. some of its regions haven't seen rain in two years. desperate for food, water, and grazing for their cattle, thousands of people are fleeing their homes, walking long distances under the scorching sun. one man and his family left their coastal city. the six-year-old says he had to walk more than 1000 km to get to this desolate camp, hoping to get food and shelter. >> if you walk some distance out of here you will see lots of bones. animal bones piled up on the top of each other.

the size of the bones will shock you not only here but throughout the region. >> somalia is one of the poorest countries in the world battered by decades of violence, war, and political instability. the drought could be the worst yet. the u.n. fears the crisis could be similar to the 2011 famine which killed more than a quarter of a million people, half of them children. thousands have died so far. malnutrition is killing children every day. >> four days ago, the children was not even alive. the child was unconscious. we started medication. [indiscernible] >> the situation is critical. aid workers sometimes take the limited resources from the

hungry to treat those who are starving. somalis blame the russian invasion of ukraine for depleting international aid they used to receive every year and for soaring food prices. >> the war between ukraine and russia has worsened the situation of oil and wheat, which are not available. prices have skyrocketed because our land is dry and unproductive. >> the most desperate live in central and southern parts of somalia under the control of a -- the u.n. blames the armed group for contributing to the 2011 famine by deliberately blocking or burning a deliveries and targeting aid workers. until it arrives, hundreds of thousands will have to deal on

their own with colorado, malnutrition, and starvation. -- with colorado -- cholera, malnutrition, and starvation. let's bring in our guest. we have the somali minister of state for the environment and climate change. also the former deputy chair of the national drought response committee in geneva. we have martin griffiths, the united nations undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator. and executive director of the hiral institute an independent security think tank based in somalia. welcome to the program. let me start with mr. griffiths. you've you paid a visit to somalia and witnessed the impact of the drought. could you tell us more about the scope and the magnitude of the crisis?

>> october to december of this year unless there is extraordinary humanities and effort to prevent it there will be a famine in specific areas southwest of somalia. we've had four failed rainy seasons. a fifth is due in the last months of this year and it's due to fail. we fear a phalanx of the six time next year. there are 300,000 people at risk in those specific parts of southwest somalia that have been flagged for famine. we also know perhaps an even more appalling statistic, is it -- is that in the famine a decade ago in somalia, halalf of the people died before a famine was formally announced so it's

reasonable to assume that deaths are happening now out of sight and in areas where security is difficult. so we're in very, very serious straits now, the race is on . famine is knocking at the door. >> and this brings me to ask mr. adam about what's the government doing. as as you might have heard from many aid workers in somalia the biggest concern is that the government's actions so far might be too little, too late, given the fact that at least half a million children are at risk of death. >> thank you very much. the fact that we have a revamp

somalia to drought disaster management agency -- the first days in office shows we were serious about the droughts. the committee i was part of was created by the former prime minister. droughts were happening in the middle of an electoral crisis. when we had elections in this government came into place, we moved with speed and started to revamp the operation and worked hand-in-hand with osha and other aid organizations working to solicit resources for the droughts. so that's what we are doing in terms of responding to a crisis

caused by the climate crisis. >> martin for those watching the situation unfold, they are wondering why it's taking the u.n. so long to declare a famine in somalia. as the process complicated? what is at stake? >> there is a strict analyst -- there is a strict analysis based on three indicators and only when the green lights go on for them is famine formally announced.

it's important to be careful about it because famine is not like hunger. famine is different. it's a viral phenomenon which destroys lives and takes children first. we need to be extremely careful about being clear this is not just hunger, it is a famine and the response differs. what the humanitarian agencies in somalia are doing to try to ensure that those who need it get food, but also health care and safe water and sanitation because the people who die early in a famine die of cholera and waterborne disease.

hunger consumes them but disease takes them off. so you have to treat it in a particular way but i don't doubt we are seeing famine in somalia and it's the first of more to be announced in the horn of africa, i am afraid. >> we are on the brink of catastrophic famine in somalia. aid agencies have sounded the alarm for some time. we don't get the sense that the international community is committed to step in and contain the crisis as soon as possible. >> unfortunately not just international immunity but locally and somali -- in somalia. because there is conflict in the horn of africa, the ukraine war, sudan crisis.

and fatigue that this is constantly happening. current drought, current floods. people are tired. so we don't get the response we need but it's the worst in four decades and it's time to pay attention. >> adam we see pictures of tiny emaciated patients in different makeshift camps and one concern in 2011 famine was the most desperate were in areas under the control of al-shabab. and that they were using the famine and trying to block deliveries. is there concern that they could

be too late? >> what we are trying to do is prevent the situation you mentioned. there are hotspots where malnutrition is severe and those hotspots are located in the southwest and a few other places. this is where idb's are concentrated. what were trying to do is help them to not only leave -- live but restart their life in their village. we are confident that if everyone chips in we can get the support and we could mitigate the drought and avert a famine. >> people have to walk for

thousands of miles, hundreds of miles to get to camps. a mass exodus has become the focal point of the crisis. 800,000 people moving to a vast area. many say in areas under the control of the shabbat it's difficult. how can you assess the situation in those areas to get a sense of clarity about the magnitude of the crisis in those areas? >> as awful as the scenes you are showing on the screens, we fear it's nothing compared to what is playing out in places

where people have left, the places of origin. many under control. but we estimate 10% of the places where people are suffering are under the control of to bob and it might be possible with the courage of somali front-line responders to be able to get what people need to them. but what we fear as the ones who don't walk are suffering even more and that when we get to them, it will make the current scenes pale in comparison. one quick point about international support. i'm from the north. it's people like me with my habits and responsibility for climate change that caused this. the people in somalia are not

responsible for this catastrophe and the failed rainy seasons. yet somalia which only produces less than 1% of carbon emissions has yet to receive a penny of climate financing. which has been promised and the billions and africa has only received 4% of climate finance. so it's true that the war in ukraine is taking attention elsewhere and raised prices and that budgets are stretched. it is all true. climate finance was promised for this purpose that we see in somalia. >> when we talk about the

potential of a massive tragedy we sometimes forget that when you deal with famine you have outbreak of disease like pneumonia and measles and cholera and all this when they come together along with the problems that nation faces, a nation that has been battered by decades of war, instability, and poverty, it just looks like a scenario for a huge tragedy. >> i think the biggest challenge is because of the somalia civil war the responses are as they should be because there is-controlled territory and the population is disadvantaged and at higher risk. this nation does not have

capabilities that others have. >> martin i have concerns because of what is happening globally, people forget about the part of africa where there is can yeah, ethiopia, somalia. 66 million people could possibly be food insecure. >> yes. on their way of life is never going to come back. we've all spoken to people in these drought areas and they say they have lost livestock more than once and it's not possible for them to resume their way of life. so it's a threat to the way they live and somalia has the highest

urbanization rate in the world. it's because people need to walk to find new livelihoods. finding a new livelihood is not as important as saving lives but we need to save lives within the framework of giving families a chance for a future. that is why climate finance is needed urgently. it should have come months ago. we managed with the government to avert the famine four years ago in somalia because there was enough money up front to prevent the deaths. but this year i'm afraid we won't repeat that success. >> how much money do you need now to avert that crisis? >> $1 billion.

we received that. it seems like a lot of money but we need $1 billion to get through another six months of tragedy because there will be two more rainy seasons that fail. in 1980 four there was a global movement for solidarity that spoke up and raised money. we don't see that yet, despite what is happening in somalia. i think it is because attention is elsewhere. we have to raise consciousness with the message that if we get good funding, we can save thousands and thousands of lives. we have seen it done. >> adam, from your experience, could you tell us about the

challenges, the immediate needs in order for the people of somalia to overcome this tragedy? >> people need aid it on time and access to it in the places where the people are concentrated. i want to mention something about climate finance. somalia is suffering a climate crisis they did not create. the last four years they did not have a drought like this and there were four consecutive rainy seasons that failed. chance happen once every 10 years. now they are happening every year because of climate change.

so i think it's fair to say that somalia is bearing the brunt of the climate change. whoever is financing or trying to mitigate the climate crisis or providing funds, i think they will have to focus on somalia. back to your question about needs. people need access to aid and they need to be safe. they need to be able to go to safe places or access to relief from their villages. that is what they need the most. >> we talking about the need to rethink the way local communities in the horn of

africa should live? because were talking about prolonged cycles of drought, climate change, etc. >> somalia has consistently faced droughts and flooding and a river dried out four times in two years. low rainfall. it won't go away soon. we should focus first on institution building because the reason it is such a crisis in somalia is because of our

institutions on ability to respond well. so rebuilding government institutions and then come up with ways to [indiscernible] >> we focused the debate on somalia and then moved to the horn of africa. looking at the horn of africa to saharan africa, it is bigger than europe. a massive area. a potential for drought and famine. if you talk to world leaders at the u.n., they seem to be busy with what is going on in ukraine and people are not in a mood to provide assistance now. what should we do moving forward? >> you are right. there's a certain bandwidth of international attention that i've noticed. there is a limited amount of

attention that the international community has and ukraine is taking it. in new york a week ago i was pleased to see the issue of climate, famine, and floods in pakistan is getting some traction and attention. i think it's important because this is about injustice. the people in somalia did not create this and they are teaching a hard lesson to people like me about consequences of behavior. but they are linking this and we should be mobilizing the international community to be aware of our obligations to

those in the world, not only those in our neighborhood. we've seen it work before and i think it could work again. we might be a little late for somalia but there are other parts of africa. >> let's hope the international community brings back hope to somalia and to many in the world. to our guests, i really appreciate your insight and looking forward to talking to you in the near future. and thank you for watching. you can see the program again anytime by visiting our website, aljazeera.com. for further discussion, go to our facebook page. that's facebook.com/ajinsidestory. you can also join the conversation on twitter, @ajinsidestory. from the entire team here in

doha, bye for now. ♪

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