In October, Nadifa Abdi Isak brought her malnourished daughters to a hospital in Mogadishu. That day, a nurse said, 42 other children had already been checked into the emergency unit, ravaged by hunger. There were 57 the day before that.
Staff at the Benadir maternity and pediatric hospital said admissions of malnourished children have more than doubled their patient numbers over the past year. They are now treating over 1,000 emergency cases each month.
Half a million children's lives are at risk from a looming famine in Somalia, according to the United Nations — that's more than in any country worldwide this century.