Somalia Monthly Humanitarian Update, February 2024

This report is produced by OCHA Somalia in collaboration with humanitarian partners. It provides information on the humanitarian situation across Somalia in February 2024.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ms. Joyce Msuya and the Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization Ms. Beth Bechdol visited Somalia from 7 to 9 March.

• Four million people in Somalia (21 per cent of the population) are facing Crisis or Emergency food insecurity, according to the latest Integrated Phase Classification (IPC).

• An estimated 1.7 million children aged 6 to 59 months face acute malnutrition in 2024, including 430,000 who are likely to be severely malnourished.

• Health partners have scaled up response to cholera and together with the Federal Ministry of Health have developed a six-month plan that requires US$5.6 million to implement.

• Story: A testament to the resilience and determination of Somali women in the face of adversity. Born in Belet Xaawo, Fatumo and her family endured a decade of displacement due to natural disasters and conflict, finally finding refuge in Doolow.

KEY FIGURES

6.9M People in need of humanitarian assistance in 2024

5.2M People targeted for assistance in 2024

US$1.6BN Funding required for 2024 Humanitarian Response plan

4 M People facing crisis or emergency food insecurity

1.7 M Children facing acute malnutrition across Somalia

SITUATION OVERVIEW

Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator calls

The Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs (ASG) and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator (DERC) Ms. Joyce Msuya and the Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations Ms. Beth Bechdol visited Somalia between 7 and 9 March. The joint mission aimed to raise awareness of the severe humanitarian situation crisis in Somalia and advocate for additional resources to support and scale up the ongoing lifesaving assistance. The mission met affected people, frontline humanitarian responders, partners, donors and Government counterparts to discuss gaps, challenges, and immediate priorities for operational and strategic support to the humanitarian response. On 7 March, ASG Msuya opened the new OCHA Somalia offices in Mogadishu.

“I heard how the heroic efforts of local communities, humanitarian organizations and the Government helped to avert famine last year,” ASG Msuya told a press conference in Mogadishu on 9 March. “But I want to be clear: the worst is far from over. Somalia’s future, and the lives of millions of people, hang on a very, very tight balance. One in five people in Somalia have so little food that their lives or livelihoods are in immediate danger. Some 1.7 million people face acute malnutrition.”

Ms. Bechdol commended the strong commitment by humanitarian partners, donors and the Government. “What has helped in recent years has indeed been the very strong level of commitment provided by humanitarian donors, that is still needed in this particular period that the country finds itself in,” she said. “But it is time to start transitioning to more development support for the country and the people.” Talking about their joint mission to Doolow on 8 March, Ms. Bechdol said: “It is so critical in the food and agriculture system that we lift up women. And it is not just because of the opportunities that are presented to them. It is because they are already the backbone. On the African continent, twothirds of the work done in food and agriculture is by women.”

In 2023, Somalia suffered back-to-back extreme climatic shocks. notably the worst drought in 40 years and once-in-a century floods due to El-Niño and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole. “I have been deeply moved by the strength, by the resilience, by the courage, by the commitment starting from the communities all the way up to the Government at the federal level for the people of Somalia,” said Ms. Msuya. “We were very impressed by [how] local partners, national NGOs and the humanitarian community are benefiting from working very, very closely together. A core part of our job after we leave Somalia is to mobilize, to ask for more support from funding partners to help support the Humanitarian Response Plan for Somalia for 2024.”