Somalia - Complex Emergency Fact Sheet #17, Fiscal Year (FY) 2007

NOTE: The last fact sheet was dated April 27, 2007.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

- On May 4, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) increased the estimate of persons displaced by recent fighting in Mogadishu by nearly 30,000, bringing the total number of displaced since February 1 to approximately 394,000. UNHCR notes that the increase since April 27 is the result of further assessment and does not indicate additional population movements out of Mogadishu.

- Despite ongoing challenges to relief operations in Somalia, U.N. agencies have reached approximately 250,000 of those recently displaced from Mogadishu, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Initial assistance targeted priority needs, including shelter, food, health, and water and sanitation. Extended families and clan members are also providing assistance to recently displaced families.

- Despite international reports of early returns to the capital, relief agencies operating throughout southern and central Somalia note no significant movement of displaced persons from areas of temporary displacement. Humanitarian organizations report that insecurity continues to deter returns and hinder relief efforts in Mogadishu and nearby areas.

HUMANITARIAN FUNDING PROVIDED TO DATE (FY 2006 AND FY 2007)

USAID/OFDA Assistance to Somalia: $18,091,401

USAID/FFP(2) Assistance to Somalia: $106,683,700

State/PRM(3) Assistance to Somalia: $4,520,000

Total USAID and State Humanitarian Assistance to Somalia: $129,295,101

CURRENT SITUATION

Population Movements

- Updated displacement numbers from UNHCR indicate that Galgadud, Lower Shabelle, Middle Shabelle, Hiran, and Mudug regions continue to host the highest concentrations of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Mogadishu. According to relief agencies throughout southern and central Somalia, very few displaced persons have begun to return to the capital due to fears of renewed conflict. Rain in Mogadishu and nearby Lower Shabelle Region, as well as the threat of evictions from government buildings, are also acting as deterrents to broader returns.

- On May 4, OCHA reported that USG-supported UNHCR had distributed emergency relief supplies, including blankets, shelter materials, and household items to 181,400 IDPs. Beneficiaries included 106,000 displaced persons in denselysettled areas of Lower Shabelle and Middle Shabelle regions and an estimated 66,000 people in Galgadud and Mudug regions northeast of Mogadishu.

- In addition, USAID partner the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) is delivering food to approximately 114,000 displaced persons in Galgadud, Lower Shabelle, and Banadir regions. Food aid delivered to hospitals and 16,000 people in Mogadishu in recent days represents WFP's first large scale distribution within the capital since 1994. Health

- As of April 27, the U.N. World Health Organization (WHO) reported 23,202 cases of acute watery diarrhea, including 743 deaths, in 10 regions of southern and central Somalia since January 1. In a health sector coordination meeting on May 9, WHO cautioned that the recent decline in reported cases is largely due to insecurity in Mogadishu, which hampered surveillance and reporting efforts for the last two weeks of the reporting period. Humanitarian organizations have noted that the onset of the rainy season could lead to the further spread of acute watery diarrhea.

- Aid agencies continue to prioritize emergency response efforts to areas that have received high numbers of displaced persons from Mogadishu. In particular, in Lower Shabelle, Galgadud, and Mudug regions the arrival of tens of thousands of displaced persons has stretched already limited health, water, and sanitation services. - USAID-supported WHO and the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) are engaged in water chlorination activities, sanitation and hygiene promotion, and the transport and distribution of cholera kits and more than 2 million oral rehydration salt packets.

Humanitarian Access

- Due to improved access as a result of decreased fighting in Mogadishu, WFP has initiated food distributions in the capital in recent weeks. However, insecurity, rainfall, roadblocks, and clan fighting continue to hinder relief efforts. Rains have disrupted ground transport in Gedo, Lower Juba, and Middle Juba regions, and insecurity around Kismayo has resulted in transport delays, according to OCHA.

- USAID regional staff based in Nairobi continue to coordinate with U.N. agencies and non-governmental organization partners to monitor humanitarian access and identify additional relief response efforts for drought, flood, and conflictaffected populations in Somalia.

USAID AND STATE HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE

- USAID/OFDA emergency relief activities in Somalia benefit more than 2 million people affected by repeated shocks of drought, floods, and conflict. Current USAID/OFDA relief efforts in southern and central Somalia total more than $11 million for critical assistance and coordination. USAID/FFP has provided more than $25 million in food assistance to vulnerable Somalis to date in FY 2007. In FY 2006, USAID/FFP directed more than $81 million to CARE and WFP for emergency food distributions.

- State/PRM is assisting Somali refugees in Kenya and Ethiopia and relief efforts in Somalia through FY 2007 and ongoing FY 2006 refugee programs. To date in FY 2007, State/PRM has provided $5.6 million in earmarked funding for UNHCR operations in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia, and $2 million to CARE for assistance to Somali refugees in Kenya. In FY 2006, State/PRM provided nearly $15 million in earmarked funding for vulnerable populations in Somalia as well as Somali refugees in the Horn of Africa.

Notes:

(1) Figures for new displacement since February 1 do not reflect long-term displaced populations countrywide.

(2) USAID's Office of Food for Peace

(3) U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration

MAP - USG Humanitarian Programs in Somalia (as of 11 May 2007)