MOGADISHU, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Somalia on Thursday secured 10.5 million U.S. dollars through a trilateral partnership launched in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, to tackle drought and prevent famine in the country.

The Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), the United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the British Embassy in Mogadishu announced the drought assistance and resilience program through the Building Resilient Communities in Somalia (BRCiS) consortium.

"The tripartite collaboration will for the first time combine investments from the UK, U.S., and Qatar under one program, BRCiS," the three organizations said in a joint statement.

The trilateral partnership builds upon famine prevention and resilience investments made by USAID, UKAID, and QFFD in 2021/22 and will enable BRCiS to sustain lifesaving service delivery while accelerating recovery efforts over the next six months.

Perrine Piton, the BRCiS chief of Party, said these contributions will save lives. "The funds will enable us to reinforce market-based systems that drive supply and demand initiatives while ensuring 41,000 people receive emergency food assistance (multi-purpose cash), 330,000 individuals have access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene materials, and 175,000 people are provided with lifesaving health and nutrition services," Piton said.

Severe drought, compounded by conflict, in Somalia has left 6.6 million people severely food insecure, according to the United Nations projections.

Since January 2022, more than 3 million people have been displaced and mortality rates have surpassed those in 2017.

An estimated 43,000 deaths have already occurred, half of which were among children under five years of age, according to the UN.

Without continued support, more than half a million children under the age of five are at risk of severe malnourishment and death this year.