General Overview
Fighting between forces allied to the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) and Al Shabaab has largely subsided in recent weeks due to the extended humanitarian crisis caused by the severe drought throughout Somalia. Although the drought has been the protection concern and the main cause of displacement through South Central Somalia, insecurity remains high in many areas.
People throughout Somalia are involved in a rapidly declining human rights situation as the country is facing a level of famine and drought not seen in decades. According to various humanitarian agencies the famine and drought is currently threatening an estimated 2.85 million people in the country, or onethird of the country’s population. UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres recently stated that Somalia has come to represent “the worst humanitarian disaster in the world.” The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has stated that malnutrition rates for children under five in central and southern Somalia are the highest in the world, as one in ten children are at risk of starving to death in the drought-hit regions. An official from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in an interview informed that 100 children die every day in Somalia due to malnutrition and that the drought has forced nearly 60,000 people to flee daily in attempts to access humanitarian aid in urban areas of Somalia or beyond the borders in refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia