[Iran Press TV Latest] Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa has drawn attention to the deplorable conditions in Somalia, urging Arab states to "immediately" assist the war-torn nation. Moussa decried the living standards in the African nation as "barely fit for humans", where hundreds of thousands of children are suffering from malnutrition, Press TV reported Moussa as saying on Tuesday.
"We need to save Somalia...It is our duty to help our Arab brothers," the Secretary General added.
Arab League's urgent call for aid follows recent reports by human rights organizations, describing the crisis in Somalia as the single biggest humanitarian challenge in the world.
According to the international aid organization, Oxfam, there are currently over 3.6 million people, or half of Somalia's population, in desperate need of aid.
Adding to the crisis are over 1.3 million internally displaced people, and another half a million refugees who reside in impoverished camps in neighboring countries.
The suffering and mass exodus of Somalis come at a time when Somalia is also struggling with its worst drought in a decade.
Somalia has lacked a functioning government since 1991. The new government of President Sharif Ahmed, elected in January, has been fighting an intense battle with rebels, especially in the capital Mogadishu.
The clashes have left hundreds of people dead this month alone.
However, even as conflicts rage within Somalia, both private and government donors are reluctant to throw money in a state as disorganized as this Horn of African nation, where a weak, UN-backed, interim government struggles to contain a bloody insurgency.