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Somalia

Somalia: Complex Emergency Situation Report #1 (FY 2008)

Attachments

U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BUREAU FOR DEMOCRACY, CONFLICT, AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE (DCHA)
OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)

Note: The last fact sheet was dated September 28, 2007.

Background

Since 1991, widespread violence, endemic poverty, and recurrent droughts and floods have generated a complex emergency in Somalia. Continued civil strife and inter-clan conflicts have complicated the humanitarian situation and limited access to affected areas. Large-scale fighting since late December 2006 between the Somalia Transitional Federal Government (TFG), Ethiopian forces, and militias associated with the Council of Islamic Courts (CIC) have led to a further deterioration in humanitarian conditions. As a result, approximately 335,000 Somali refugees have fled the country, and approximately 1 million people have been displaced within Somalia. In August 2007, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Food Security Analysis Unit (FSAU) for Somalia reported that more than 1.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, a 50 percent increase from January 2007. The combined effects of the failed April-June (gu) rains, conflict, massive displacement, and diarrheal disease in 2007 have severely exacerbated the food security situation and resulted in a significant increase in acute malnutrition rates, according to the 2008 U.N. Consolidated Appeal for Somalia. U.N. and relief agencies are coordinating efforts to improve access, but insecurity continues to hinder the provision of emergency assistance to affected populations.

On October 3, 2007, U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Michael E. Ranneberger redeclared a disaster due to the ongoing complex emergency in Somalia. In FY 2007 and to date in FY 2008, the U.S. Government (USG) has provided more than $120 million for health, nutrition, agriculture and food security, livelihoods, coordination, protection, and water, sanitation, and hygiene programs, as well as emergency food assistance, peacebuilding activities, refugee assistance, and air operations.

NUMBERS AT A GLANCE
SOURCE
Estimated Displacement from Mogadishu(1)
600,000
UNHCR(2) - December 14, 2007
Long-Term IDP(3) Caseload
400,000
OCHA(4) - July 31, 2007
Additional Population in Need of Assistance
785,000
FSAU - August 2007
Somalia Refugees in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Yemen(5)
335,000
UNHCR 2006 Global Trends Report - June 2007

FY 2007 HUMANITARIAN FUNDING PROVIDED TO DATE

USAID/OFDA Assistance to Somalia: $26,377,844

USAID/FFP(6) Assistance to Somalia: $87,820,400

USAID/OTI(7) Assistance to Somalia: $1,000,000

State/PRM(8) Assistance to Somalia: $4,871,560

Total USAID and State Humanitarian Assistance to Somalia: $120,819,804

CURRENT SITUATION

Humanitarian agencies have increased emergency assistance to displaced and conflict-affected populations in southern and central Somalia in response to a new influx of IDPs from escalating violence in Mogadishu and declining food security and nutrition indicators. However, restricted access compounded by the increasing needs of vulnerable populations present significant challenges to humanitarian relief operations countrywide. As a result, current relief efforts are inadequate to meet the needs of an estimated 1.5 million Somalis requiring humanitarian assistance, according to OCHA. On December 10, the U.N. released a Combined Appeal Process (CAP) request for more than $406.2 million to address emergency needs of an estimated 1.5 million people, including 400,000 protracted IDPs and approximately 450,000 newly displaced.

Population Movements

Since October 27, more than 245,000 people are estimated to have fled renewed fighting and an intensification of military security operations in Mogadishu, according to OCHA. This figure includes 56,000 people displaced within the capital. The majority of newly displaced persons have relocated to Lower Shabelle and Middle Shabelle regions, where existing IDP populations are already straining available resources. To date in 2007, conflict has displaced approximately 600,000 people within and from Mogadishu, including more than 200,000 concentrated in settlements between Mogadishu and Afgooye, Lower Shabelle Region. The latest waves of displacement and the estimated 400,000 long-term displaced population have increased the total estimated IDP population in Somalia to 1 million people.

In addition, fighting in October between the self-declared Republic of Somaliland and the neighboring autonomous region of Puntland over the disputed Sool Region displaced an estimated 50,000 people, according to OCHA. An October U.N. assessment to Sool prioritized shelter and water, sanitation, and hygiene services for approximately 30,000 people in need of assistance. In response, USAID-partner the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) is transporting water to approximately 23,000 people in the region.

USAID/OFDA funding supports UNHCR efforts to track population movements. Through a network of local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and monitors on the ground, UNHCR provides critical information on IDP movements, needs, and impacts on host communities.

Humanitarian Access

Insecurity, administrative delays, border restrictions, and military activity continue to hinder relief operations throughout central and southern Somalia. In November, OCHA reported that an increase in the number of checkpoints, inconsistent policies regarding NGO registration and taxation, and the continued closure of the El Wak border crossing between Kenya and Somalia resulted in significant delays in the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

In addition, escalating violence in Mogadishu and the targeting of humanitarian staff and assets further hamper mobility and access. Between November 18 and 20, armed militia attacks on food distribution centers in Wanle Wayne District in Middle Shabelle killed two people and injured six others. On November 26, armed men carjacked an NGO vehicle outside Afgooye in Lower Shabelle, reflecting an increasing trend in security incidents involving humanitarian organizations.

USAID staff in Nairobi work closely with U.N. agencies and implementing partners operating throughout central and southern Somalia to monitor humanitarian access and coordinate response efforts. In addition, USAID/OFDA funding provides support for logistics and the delivery of relief commodities to conflict-affected populations in Somalia, including humanitarian air transport through the U.N. Common Air Service.

Food Security and Agriculture

Poor performance of the April-June (gu) main rainy season severely reduced August harvests, resulting in the worst cereal production harvest in thirteen years, according to FSAU. In addition, USAID's Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) reports that the recent erratic and below-normal October and November (deyr) rains are expected to further reduce water availability and pasture for local populations and livestock, particularly in the Shabelle valley and central regions.

Food security conditions are expected to continue to decline through the December to March dry season due to the cumulative effects of conflict, repeated market disruptions, new displacement, and poor rains, according to FEWS NET. The displacement of an estimated 245,000 people from Mogadishu since October 27 has increased competition for already limited resources among IDPs, host families, and other local communities, and rising food prices have reduced food access and availability. Since May, multiple factors have contributed to higher prices of staple food items, including the devaluation of the Somali shilling, increased transportation costs, and conflict-related disruptions of internal trade and import activities. In November, FSAU reported that the price of imported rice in Middle Shabelle and Lower Shabelle regions had risen 160 percent from October 2006 price levels.

On November 25, USAID-partner the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) started to provide daily prepared meals to a targeted 50,000 beneficiaries in Mogadishu, following earlier suspension of dry food ration distributions in June due to security concerns. From November 25 to 29, WFP completed the distribution of a one-month food ration to 180,000 displaced persons in the Afgooye area of Lower Shabelle.

In FY 2007 and to date in FY 2008, USAID/FFP has provided more than 110,000 metric tons (MT) of emergency food commodities to assist vulnerable Somalis. Ongoing FY 2007 USAID/OFDA funding supports six partners implementing agriculture, food security, and economy and market systems programs to mitigate the impact of the current crisis.

Nutrition

Preliminary results from three FSAU nutrition surveys conducted among agro-pastoral, riverine, and newly displaced populations in Lower Shabelle and Middle Shabelle regions from October 30 to November 9 indicate that malnutrition rates remain at critical levels. Global acute malnutrition (GAM) rates range from 14 to 17.6 percent and severe acute malnutrition (SAM) rates range from 2.9 to 3.2 percent, close to or above emergency thresholds of 15 percent GAM and 1 percent SAM. According to FSAU, an estimated 45,000 children under the age of five in Middle Shabelle and Lower Shabelle are acutely malnourished, including nearly 8,500 severely malnourished children. The U.N. CAP reported that the number of moderately or severely malnourished children may be as high as 83,000. Humanitarian agencies note particular concern for the more than 200,000 Mogadishu residents located in temporary settlements between Mogadishu and Afgooye. A September 12 to November 23 survey conducted by the NGO Médecins Sans Frontières in Hawa Abdi settlement recorded child mortality rates (CMR) for children under five of 4.2 deaths per 10,000 people, more than double the emergency threshold of 2 deaths per 10,000 people. MSF attributes increased CMR to severe malnutrition and inadequate sanitation conditions.

In FY 2007 and FY 2008 to date, USAID/OFDA has provided more than $4.2 million to support nutrition interventions, including supplementary feeding programs for moderately malnourished children and community therapeutic care for severely malnourished children. In addition, USAID/OFDA supports FSAU's ongoing nutrition surveillance.

Health and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene

On October 2, the U.N. World Health Organization (WHO) issued an alert for a potential cholera outbreak in southern and central Somalia. To date, new cholera cases continue to be reported in Bay, Gedo, Lower Juba, and Middle Juba regions. On December 4, WHO reported 268 cases of acute watery diarrhea (AWD), including 10 deaths, in Baidoa, Bay Region, of which three out of four AWD samples tested positive for cholera. In response, USAID/OFDA partners WHO and UNICEF are providing emergency and medical supplies. In addition, USAID/OFDA funding supports water, sanitation, and hygiene programs to reduce transmission of water-related diseases, such as cholera.

Refugees

State/PRM is assisting both Somali refugees in the Horn of Africa and Yemen and relief efforts within Somalia. In FY 2007, State/PRM provided nearly $25 million to organizations supporting Somali refugees and conflict-affected populations in Somalia, including assistance for WFP refugee feeding programs and UNHCR shelter, protection, and emergency relief activities benefiting refugees in Kenya, Yemen, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somalia.

Map: USG Humanitarian Assistance to Somalia ( as of 20 Dec 2007)

Notes:

(1) Figures represent estimated displacement from Mogadishu since April 2007, and do not reflect long-term displacement countrywide.

(2) Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees

(3) Internally displaced person

(4) U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

(5) USAID's Office of Food for Peace

(6) USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives

(7) USAID's Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation

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