Attachments
Key messages
- According to the IPC2 , at least 55.3 million people in 10 of the 13 countries covered by the FSNWG were highly food insecure (IPC Phase 3+) in March 2023. Of these,
25.8 million were from six of the eight IGAD member states. In addition, 20.1 million people were targeted for food assistance in Ethiopia according to the 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP). If this figure is added on, an estimated 75.4 million people were in need of urgent food assistance during the month in 11 of the 13 countries covered by the FSNWG, 45.9 million of them in seven of the eight IGAD member states.
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Across the countries covered by the IPC, the over 9.6 million people classified in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and 129,150 people classified in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5) – 96,150 in Somalia and 33,000 in South Sudan – were of particular concern.
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In Somalia, the Risk of Famine remains a possibility among rural agro-pastoral households in Burhakaba and new internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Baidoa and Mogadishu between April and June in a worst-case scenario where the performance of the ongoing season is worse than currently forecast and humanitarian assistance does not reach the most vulnerable.
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The number of forcibly displaced populations has been on an upward trend, with over 4.96 million refugees and asylum seekers and 11.71 million IDPs present in the region. This includes 1.83 million new IDPs in Ethiopia and Somalia due to drought, and nearly 100,000 new refugees in Ethiopia due to the recent conflict in Laascaanood in Somalia.
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Though improved rainfall from mid-March has brought some reprieve to pastoral and agro-pastoral communities, it has also caused river overflows and flash floods in some areas. Given the magnitude of livelihood losses and population displacements observed in the region, the impacts of the drought will likely continue regardless of seasonal performance.
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Scaled-up humanitarian response remains critical to mitigating the high multi-sectoral humanitarian needs in the region.