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Situation Overview
The Horn of Africa continues to face a severe humanitarian crisis, with millions of people in need of assistance due to a combination of factors including drought, flooding, conflict, economic crisis and inability to access basic needs. The region has been hit by a series of droughts in recent years, leading to crop failure and a lack of water and food. The region has also been hit by heavy rains in recent months leading to flooding which has caused widespread destruction and displacement exacerbating humanitarian needs. The floods have also led to further health risks, including concerns regarding water borne diseases.
In recent months, according to UNHCR’s drought dashboard of displacement affected populations, by the end of June 2023, over 2 million had been internally displaced in Somalia and Ethiopia, while over 254,000 new refugee and asylum-seekers have crossed into drought affected areas of Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia since January 2022.
In Ethiopia, thousands of people displaced by floods brought on by the rains from March to May are still waiting for assistance in the Somali region. Due to lack of sufficient funds and resources very limited response has reached communities out of the more than 37,000 flood affected families in the region. Furthermore, the floods damaged roads and bridges impacting the possibility to access services for IDPs. The pause in food aid, and inflated food prices especially in cereals (by an estimated 35 per cent) due to growing imbalance between supply and demand among affected populations, are negatively affecting those struggling to recover from consecutive droughts. Acute malnutrition in the Somali region remains at emergency level with Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) over 15 per cent, Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) over 2 per cent, with Afder Zone showing one of the highest levels at 21.9 per cent, according to the Nutrition Cluster. The nutrition situation outlook in the short-term to medium term (six months) is less likely to improve as it will take some time for drought-affected population to recover (OCHA Situation Report July 2023).
According to OCHA’s report, the ongoing cholera outbreak has spread across 74 woredas in Oromia, Sidama, Somali, and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People (SNNP) regions affecting a total of 11,960 cases, with 165 deaths by the end of June, and since its onset in August 2022. With the support from UNICEF and WHO, federal and regional Public Health Emergency Management (PHEM) teams established 81 cholera treatment centres and provided oral vaccinations across affected regions. However, challenges remain around the administration of single dose vaccinations due to shortage in global supply. Current clean water supply coverage in cholera affected woredas in Oromia and Somali regions is also low, further exasperating the spread.
In Kenya, the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) region continued to face immense humanitarian needs following five consecutive below-average rainy seasons. Additionally, the long rains in most arid counties led to flash floods which had negative impacts on the local livelihoods and critical facilities like roads. Despite the impact of the March-April-May (MAM) rainfall season 17 counties, including Garissa, reported normal drought phase situation. Additionally, the long rains in most arid counties led to flash floods which had negative impacts on the local livelihoods and critical facilities like roads.
In Somalia, UNHCR continued to operate in an extremely challenging context due to insecurity and climate change. Better than expected rainfall and responses from the local population, authorities, and the humanitarian community have averted the worst outcomes of the drought; yet the situation is still worrisome. In June, according to the UNHCR-led Protection and Return Monitoring Network (PRMN), 92,000 internal displacements within Somalia were recorded, primarily due to conflict/insecurity (57,000), drought (28,000) and floods (3,000) bringing the overall number of internal displacements in 2023 to over 1.8 million. Food, livelihood support, and shelter continued to be among the top needs of the newly displaced family. The top three regions that received the greatest number of new displacements in June were Nugal, followed by Bari and Middle Juba