Marwo Abdikarim feared the worst. Her 11-month-old baby boy, Ahmed Hussein, was fading away,
quiet and limp. With no nearby health facilities in her village in Jilib, southern Somalia, the mother of
two had no option but to travel a gruelling 120km journey through muddy roads and numerous
checkpoints to reach the stabilization centre at the Kismayo General Hospital.

“I didn’t think he was going to survive. Just lying there, not even crying,” she recalls.

For mothers like Marwo who reside in rural Somalia, accessing health care can take days. It
sometimes involves wading through impassable roads while navigating territories controlled by
different authorities all in the hope of saving the lives of their loved ones.

When they arrived at the centre, Ahmed’s body was shutting down due to severe acute malnutrition
(SAM). His case is one of the 479,000 Somali children under the age of five who are projected to
suffer from the disease in 2025, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)
analysis. Stabilization centres like the one at Kismayo General Hospital, which is supported by the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), provide life-saving treatment for children like
Ahmed who are critical and have developed medical complications brought on by hunger.

ICRC Health Field Officer, Mohamed Said Egal, reviews Ahmed Hussein’s medical chart at the stabilization centre in Kismayo General Hospital. His mother, Marwo, brought him critically ill presenting with marasmus, and severe mouth sores, and had to be admitted to the ICU. @ICRC/Abdikarim Mohamed

Admissions at the therapeutic feeding centre have surged in recent months. In April, the number of
admissions doubled compared to March, and by May, 277 critically ill children were admitted, the
highest admission in one month since the devastating drought in 2023.
This worrying trend is unfolding against a background of intensifying conflict that is triggering waves
of displacement, and a cycle of floods and droughts that are pushing families deeper into hunger.

“Conflict is uprooting families, floods are destroying crops, and some areas are already parched by drought. Parents simply cannot afford food, and small children are the first to starve,” said Antoine Grand, the head of the ICRC delegation in Somalia.

Increasing needs amid clinic closures

“We look for medicine at the livestock market clinic – tablets, syrups… But now, they don’t give any medicine.” Farhiyo Hassan

Farhiyo Hassan, a mother of nine living in an IDP camp in the outskirts of Kismayo, used to
rely on the clinic for peanut paste, an essential part of treatment for children suffering from
malnutrition.

“On my next visit, they told me there was no more peanut paste. Since then, we’ve never received any peanut paste anymore.”

As more families are rushing to seek specialized care, clinics that once served as the first port of call
for mothers with ailing children in need of nutritional services are shutting down due to funding
gaps. With fewer services available- even in town centres- children are arriving weaker, sicker, their
bodies slipping from moderate to severe acute malnutrition before they can access basic, early
medical treatment.

Nimco Ibrahim, one-year-and-nine-months, arrived at the clinic severely malnourished, with other medical complications including low body heat (hypothermia).
In the first five months of 2025, nearly 900 patients have been seen at the stabilization centre, while the SRCS outpatient clinics treated close to 1,400 children.
@ICRC/Abdikarim Mohamed

The facility at Kismayo saw a near 70% increase in number of patients admitted since the beginning
of the year, compared to the previous five months. Similarly, outpatient nutrition clinics run by the
Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS) are also reporting a sharp rise in mothers seeking treatment for
their malnourished children. Yet preventative nutrition programmes are dwindling due to funding
gaps- depriving vulnerable families like Farihiyo’s of critical care.

Against All Odds
The treatment offered at the clinics is a lifeline for vulnerable communities. Children, the first to
weaken when there is no food, also respond quickly with to medical and nutritional treatment.

“When I brought her, her eyes were dark, and she was weak. By midday, she was conscious, trying to sit, and even playing,” says Farhiyo of her daughter, Nimco, who was showing signs of improvement hours after arriving at the centre.

Recovery typically takes 7 to 14 days, with nutrient-laden therapeutic milk adjusted at different
stages of treatment. Mothers and guardians, who stay with the children during admission also
receive vital hygiene training, breastfeeding advice, and counselling on proper nutrition, equipping
them to protect their children long after discharge.

The stabilization centre distributes therapeutic milk daily, following a standard schedule to help in the children’s recovery. Severely malnourished children are given F-75 milk during the initial phase, while those in transition receive F-100 milk. Each formula is tailored to different stages of treatment.
@ICRC/Abdikarim Mohamed

Both the SRCS -run outpatient nutrition clinics and the stabilization centre at the Kismayo General
Hospital which serves the most critical cases are vital in providing ongoing care for mothers and
children. Both facilities provide free medical services, and their complementary levels of care help
stem the spread of malnutrition problem in Somalia.

“They gave him medicine when I arrived. They gave him milk. Thank God, he is fine now. I didn’t think he would make it,” Marwo recounts with relief.

Farjano Clinic in Kismayo is one of 11- ICRC supported outpatient therapeutic centres run by SRCS (Bisha Cas). Mothers are regularly educated on proper nutrition and breastfeeding techniques as part of the medical services offered before patients leave the clinic.
@ICRC/Rahime Adan

UPDATE: At the time of this publication, Ahmed and Nimco have been back home for over two weeks, with their other siblings, healthy!