Update

- According to the latest food security and nutrition assessment, the number of people in humanitarian crisis in Somalia has dropped 25 percent to 2 million. This is due to a combination of a bumper harvest and a revised methodology that has addressed the issue of double counting people in need. Even with improvements, needs in Somalia remain high with 27 percent of the population still in humanitarian crisis.

- The security situation in Mogadishu drastically deteriorated with a severe spike in fighting at the same time as the start of the holy month of Ramadan on 11 August. The two last weeks of August were particularly violent with a suicide bomb attack at a hotel killing 31 people. In August, an estimated 28,000 people were displaced, at least 200 civilians were killed and more than 450 were wounded. The recent fighting demonstrated a disregard for the plight of the civilians by parties to the conflict.

- The newly displaced are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance but a majority of the aid organisations have not been able to scale-up their response efforts in and around Mogadishu due to access and security concerns.

- With the ongoing conflict in Mogadishu, health workers are facing security constraints and difficulties in providing basic health services. On 22 August, Mr. Osman Hussein Ibrahim, District Polio Officer in Mogadishu, was shot and killed by a stray bullet while on his way to supervise the polio National Immunisation Days (NID) and Child Health Days. He had served nearly 10 years in Mogadishu for the polio eradication initiative. On 30 August, a nurse working for one of the main hospital in Mogadishu was abducted on her way home from work. She was released four days later.

- In August, Al Shabaab issued a statement banning the operations of three international NGOs in areas they control - World Vision International (WVI), ADRA and Diakonia. The three NGOs were accused of propagating Christianity in Somalia. The suspensions are expected to affect assistance to more than 1.2 million people including children in need of life-saving treatment of malnutrition.

- As of 6 September, the 2010 Consolidated Appeal (CAP) was 60 percent funded, having received US$355 million of $596 million required. Around 50 percent of the funding received is carry-over from 2009 and 66 percent of the total received is for the Food Cluster. Life-saving sectors such as WASH, Health, and Nutrition are under 50 percent funded.