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Somalia + 1 more

Humanitarian Bulletin Somalia, April 2015 | Issued on 25 May 2015

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HIGHLIGHTS

  • Over 16,000 people have been displaced due to heavy rains and localised flooding.

  • Humanitarian partners support the most vulnerable households through the agricultural lean season.

  • Urgent boost in funding needed to sustain crucial response.

FIGURES

No. of people in humanitarian emergency and crisis 731,000

No. of people in food security stress 2.3m

No. of acutely malnourished children under age 5
Source: www.fsnau.org (Feb-June 2015 projection) 203,000

No. of internally displaced people 1.1m

No. of Somali refugees in the Horn of Africa and Yemen 1m
Source: UNHCR

Localised flooding as rainy season progresses

Humanitarian aid workers respond to displaced communities

The seasonal Gu rains started in April in most southern and central regions and in late March in northern parts of the country. The rains have been good in terms of amount and distribution, except for pockets in the north-west, according to the Somalia Water and Land Information Management (SWALIM). The rains have improved water and pasture availability for pastoral communities, but also led to flooding.

So far, over 16,000 people have been displaced by floods. In Lower and Middle Shabelle regions, the floods were caused by high water levels in the upper stream of Shabelle river and led to the displacement of 13,500 people, while flash floods due to heavy rains in Gaalkacyo in Mudug region displaced 2,700 people. The floods have also destroyed about 6,800 hectares of farmland.

Food, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health, emergency shelter and household items were identified as the immediate needs in Mahaday district in Middle Shabelle. The area is prone to flooding in the rainy season due to lack of maintenance of the river embankment. WASH partners are providing 1,100 hygiene kits and 7,000 sandbags to plug the breach in the river embankment. The response also includes 88,000 sandbags for locations prone to floods breaches, provided by the ICRC. Immediate needs in Gaalkacyo in Mudug include chlorination of contaminated wells and water treatment in households; pumping out flooded latrines; household items for displaced people; food aid; malaria medication and mosquito nets.

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