KEY DEVELOPMENTS

• The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has indicated plans to launch a military offensive to capture the al-Shabaab-controlled port town of Kismayo in Lower Juba Region in the coming weeks, according to the Government of Kenya (GoK). The limited number of relief organizations operating in Kismayo and surrounding areas may be unable to meet increased humanitarian needs if the AMISOM offensive in Kismayo displaces populations and disrupts basic services, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). USAID is closely monitoring the situation.

• The USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) expects Crisis—Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) 3—and Emergency—IPC 4—levels of food insecurity to persist through at least September in parts of the Horn of Africa, following mixed and generally below-average March-to-May rains. As of mid-March, more than 9 million people in the Horn of Africa were food insecure, according to OCHA.

• At a June 14 meeting, representatives from the GoK, U.N. agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the Dadaab refugee community discussed future plans for Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp complex, which currently hosts approximately 500,000 refugees, most of whom originate from Somalia. Médecins Sans Frontières, a humanitarian organization working in Dadaab, reports that many parts of the camps lack basic services and food distribution. Insecurity—including attacks targeted mostly at Kenyan police and other crimes targeting refugees— within the camps constrains the provision of basic services by humanitarian organizations.

• In FY 2011 and to date in FY 2012, the U.S. Government (USG) has provided nearly $1.2 billion in humanitarian assistance to the Horn of Africa. Of the total, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster assistance (USAID/OFDA) has provided nearly $48 million for agriculture and food security, economic recovery and market systems (ERMS), health, nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions, as well as support for humanitarian coordination and information management, to date in FY 2012. USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP) has provided approximately $408 million in food-related assistance to the region to date in FY 2012.