Attachments
Introduction
1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 2607 (2021), the resolution succeeding resolutions 1916 (2010), 1972 (2011), 2060 (2012), 2111 (2013), 2182 (2014), 2244 (2015), 2317 (2016), 2385 (2017), 2444 (2018), 2498 (2019) and 2551 (2020), in which the Council established the reporting requirement.
It is the seventeenth submission pursuant to the above-mentioned resolutions. The Council, in paragraph 36 of its resolution 2551 (2020), requested the Emergency Relief Coordinator to report to the Council by 15 October 2021 on the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Somalia and on any impediments thereto.
2. The present report covers the period from 1 September 2021 to 31 August 2022. It is focused primarily on the delivery of humanitarian assistance to affected people in areas under the control or influence of Al-Shabaab, which was included on the sanctions list pursuant to paragraph 8 of Security Council resolution 1844 (2008), by the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 751 (1992) and 1907 (2009) concerning Somalia and Eritrea, on 12 April 2010. As in the previous 16 reports (S/2010/372, S/2010/580, S/2011/125, S/2011/694, S/2012/546, S/2012/856, S/2013/415, S/2014/177, S/2014/655, S/2015/731, S/2016/827, S/2017/860, S/2018/896, S/2019/799, S/2020/1004 and S/2021/847), in the present report, constraints to humanitarian access and operational implications are outlined. In addition, mitigation measures established to address the risks of the politicization, misuse and misappropriation of humanitarian assistance are summarized. The report is based on information synthesized in consultation with relevant humanitarian organizations active in Somalia and information from the Risk Management Unit in the Integrated Office of the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General/ United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia.
Humanitarian situation
3. Somalia is facing a major humanitarian crisis, precipitated by an unprecedented four consecutive failed rainy seasons, with a fifth between October and December and a sixth in early 2023 that are also forecast to fail. The situation is coupled with the impact of protracted conflict, disease outbreaks and an increase in food and commodity prices. Humanitarian needs will continue to rise and remain high until at least the middle of 2023. According to an analysis by the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit of the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, approximately 6.7 million people across Somalia are expected to face high levels of acute food insecurity between October and December. Furthermore, famine (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification phase 5) is projected in Baidoa and Burhakaba districts and for displaced people in Baidoa town of Bay region in southern Somalia, where malnutrition and mortality levels are already at alarming levels. Bay is one of the regions where famine claimed thousands of lives in 2011, and in the absence of a significant scale-up of multisectoral assistance, there will be a significant risk of death and destitution. According to the Famine Review Committee, projected famine conditions in the Bay region are likely to last until at least March 2023.
4. The Federal Government of Somalia declared a drought emergency in November 2021, following two consecutive failed rainy seasons. The current drought has surpassed the 2016/17 droughts in terms of duration and severity. As of August 2022, an estimated 7.8 million people (almost half the population) had been affected by the drought emergency, with over 1 million displaced from their homes in search of food, water, pasture and livelihoods. More than 80 per cent of those displaced by the current drought are women and children.
5. As with many countries in the horn of Africa, Somalia is on the front line of climate change, which has induced recurrent droughts and floods and is increasingly a major driver of conflict in the country as the struggle for dwindling resources intensifies clan divisions and inter-clan conflict. Currently, Somalia hosts more than half of the people affected by the drought in the region. Cumulative gu rainfall between March to early June 2022 was 40 to 70 per cent below average. The gu season accounts for 75 per cent of annual rainfall in Somalia and is critical for crop - and livestock-dependent livelihoods. Although the rains marginally replenished pasture and water resources in some locations, they were insufficient to alleviate the impact of the drought. According to the Somalia Water And Land Information Management programme funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), about 80 per cent of the country was facing extreme drought conditions as of April 2022, which hampered irrigated agriculture in the lower reaches of the Shabelle and Juba Rivers. By that time, at least 4.9 million Somalis were affected, with 719,000 displaced and an estimated 3.5 million lacking sufficient access to water and sanitation. As the drought worsened, the number of people in need of water and sanitation rose to approximately 6.4 million by August.
6. The rainy seasons from October to December (deyr) in 2021 and April to June (gu) in 2022 both failed, leading to widespread crop loss, livestock deaths and drought-induced mass displacement. Widespread crop failure has significantly diminished seasonal agricultural production and employment, the main income source among poor agropastoral and riverine households in south-central Somalia. Overall, the cereal harvest for the 2022 gu season will likely be 40 to 60 per cent below average (compared with 20 to 60 per cent in 2021), making it the fifth consecutive belowaverage harvest on record. More than 3 million heads of livestock – one third of all livestock in the worst-affected areas – are estimated to have died of starvation and disease since mid-2021.
7. The consequences of the drought and other related drivers, such a s the ongoing conflict, the impact of the war in Ukraine on food prices, and the global economic downturn, have pushed millions of Somalis to emergency levels of food insecurity. Close to 50 per cent of the population requires humanitarian assistance and protection, a figure that has increased from 5.9 million in 2021 to 7.8 million in 2022. Approximately 1.8 million children under 5 years of age are expected to face acute malnutrition until at least mid-2023, including more than 513,000 who are likely to be severely malnourished.
8. Widespread water shortages and inadequate access to sanitation and hygiene facilities have heightened the risk of outbreaks of diseases including cholera and measles, especially in camps for internally displaced persons. As of August 2022, at least 6.4 million people lacked access to safe water and sanitation. Cholera is endemic in Somalia, spiking during rainy seasons and in locations with a high number of internally displaced persons and limited access to clean water and sanit ation. From January to August 2022, nearly 9,300 suspected cholera cases, including 42 associated deaths, were reported, three to four times the number reported in the same geographical areas in the previous two years. The spike in cases of measles is attributed to suboptimal routine immunization services, with most cases reported in children from inaccessible areas who are not vaccinated as required.
9. In many drought-affected areas, global acute malnutrition was already classified as “serious” (10 to 14.9 per cent), rising to “critical” (15 per cent or more) in some locations. In May 2022, global acute malnutrition increased by 7 per cent, largely owing to drought and increased displacement. When compared with the same period in 2021, the number of children admitted with severe acute malnutrition had increased by 49 per cent as of August 2022. The drivers of acute malnutrition include high morbidity, low immunization and vitamin A supplementation, reduced access to milk and food insecurity. Urgent treatment and nutritional support are required, including for more than 250,000 pregnant and lactating women in need.
10. The drought has forced several schools to close as children were displaced with their families, while for others, their parents are unable to afford basic school costs and food owing to loss of livelihood. As of April 2022, at least 420,000 (45 per cent girls) of 1.4 million children whose education had been disrupted by the drought were at risk of dropping out of school. By August 2022, the number of pupils whose education had been disrupted rose to 2.4 million, with 1.7 million already out of school. A further 720,000 children who were enrolled in the 2021/22 school year are at risk of dropping out permanently. Experience from past droughts indicates that 90 per cent of children who lose access to education never return. In addition, children, in particular boys, who are out of school are at risk of being recruited by armed groups, with reported instances of ongoing recruitment in drought-affected areas.
11. The drought has devastated the livelihoods of the most vulnerable Somalis, whose ability to cope had already been eroded by decades of protracted conflict, climate shocks, locust infestation and disease outbreaks. Persistent insecurity and conflict, in particular in central and southern Somalia, as well as global supply and price shocks and escalating local and imported food prices, including the impact of the Ukraine crisis on production and supply chains and export bans from neighbouring countries, have driven food prices up, threatening the food security of millions across Somalia. In more than half of the markets monitored, prices in July 2022 were abnormally high compared with the five-year average for local cereals (60–234 per cent higher), imported rice (27–85 per cent higher) and diesel (66–130 per cent higher). Prices are expected to remain high until at least the end of 2022.
12. A desert locust infestation that affected Somalia severely from 2019 to 2021 has declined, but there are concerns about a possible resurgence. By September 2021, more than 332,800 hectares of crops had been sprayed using ground and aerial assets in concerted control actions by FAO and the Government, which contributed to the decline in infestation. On 3 November 2021, FAO and Puntland State inaugurated the National Desert Locust Monitoring and Control Centre, based in Qardho, in the Bari region of Puntland State.
13. Conflict and insecurity in parts of the country continue to aggravate vulnerabilities and increase displacement. As of August 2022, Somalia still had the largest number of internally displaced persons, at about 2.9 million. From January to August 2022, an estimated 1.2 million people were displaced across Somalia, according to the Protection and Return Monitoring Network of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), of whom 857,000 were displaced by conflict and insecurity. Between 8 and 15 August, more than 25,200 people (4,200 families) from 14 villages were displaced following armed clashes and political instability in the Maxaas and Matabaan districts, in the Hiraan region. The internally displaced persons face serious protection risks associated with cyclical displacement owing to conflict and natural disasters, coupled with recurring human rights violations, including forceful evictions and the marginalization of some communities.
14. Social support systems are increasingly overstretched in many parts of the country, leading to a surge in displacement from rural areas to already congested internally displaced person settlements and to towns and cities. New internally displaced persons arrive in desperate conditions and often face numerous challenges accessing humanitarian assistance after their arrival. Access to assistance remains limited, with most internally displaced person settlements classified as being in “emergency” (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification phase 4) until December 2022.
15. Most of the main internally displaced person settlements across Somalia are under private ownership, hence the increased risk of forced evictions. Displaced women, children, persons with disabilities, older persons and persons with minority clan affiliations face the greatest protection challenges and are thus considered the most vulnerable members of society. From January to June 2022, protection cluster partners recorded about 80,000 forced evictions by landowners, of which 84 per cent occurred in the Banaadir region.
16. Resources such as water points and other water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, maternal and children’s health centres and education facilities created through significant investments by humanitarian partners were destroyed during forced evictions in Banaadir and other places. Advocacy by the Somalia protection cluster led to the issuance of eviction moratoriums on 64,000 evictions and to cash payments in order to enable people affected by evictions to resettle. However, while measures to prevent or mitigate the risk of forced evictions have been implemented, they remain significantly insufficient in comparison to the needs.
17. Women and girls face heightened risks because of inequality and social norms that exclude them from opportunities and decision-making platforms. Gender-based violence remains rampant amid forced evictions, multiple displacements and insecurity. Intimate partner violence, rape, revenge killings, and sexual exploitation and abuse are rife owing to poor living conditions and to long distances to water points, farmlands, gender-based violence service sites, health facilities and markets, difficulties that are compounded by overcrowding and lack of privacy. According to the United Nations Population Fund, gender-based violence has spiked.
18. In addition to the humanitarian emergency, Somalia is facing structural development challenges, with 71 per cent of the population living below the poverty line. Communities in rural and hard-to-reach areas lack access to basic health-care and education services. Of the 7.7 million who are projected to need assistance in 2022, about 5.5 million are vulnerable non-displaced people who have had to cope with pre-existing vulnerabilities as well as recurring multiple shocks.
19. Access to health services is limited for many Somalis, with 21 per cent of the population having no access to a nearby functioning health facility. Somalia has some of the highest rates of infant and child mortality as well as maternal mortality in the world, and 79 per cent of all births are delivered at home without sk illed assistance.
The maternal mortality rate (692 deaths per 100,000 live births) and the fertility rate (an average of 6.9 children per woman) are also among the highest in the world.
20. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections have declined but continue to pose a threat in Somalia. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 20 per cent of the population will suffer from direct and indirect impacts of the pandemic. Between 16 March 2020, when the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed, and 20 August 2022, the country recorded 27,162 cases and 1,352 deaths. Somalia has very few testing facilities and, where testing is available, stigma often prevents people from gaining access to it. Moreover, Somalis who lack adequate social protection, in particular internally displaced persons and the urban poor, are more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19 and suffering its most severe consequences.
21. Families and internally displaced persons are the most vulnerable to accidents caused by explosive remnants of war, because they frequently traverse vast tracts of land in search of pastures or while seeking suitable settlements. Over the past 12 months, the Department of Safety and Security has recorded more than 3,000 incidents, including 326 concerning improvised explosive devices, of which 255 involved civilians, including 3 children. With regard to improvised explosive devices, civilians constitute the highest number of casualties, because they are often more vulnerable to the impact of large explosions usually intended to target security forces or installations.
22. In addition to supporting internally displaced persons, humanitarian partners in Somalia provide support to returnees, mainly from Kenya and Yemen. According to UNHCR, an estimated 30,800 refugees and asylum-seekers will arrive in Somalia in 2022, mainly from Yemen, with the majority hosted in Somaliland, followed by Puntland and south and central regions. While conditions are still not conducive to safe and dignified returns to most parts of Somalia, UNHCR anticipates that that there will be more than 132,100 refugee returnees in the country in 2022, with approximately 20,000 returning from refugee camps in Kenya and the remainder from Djibouti, Libya, Yemen and other countries.
23. Somalia is among the countries that have recorded the highest number of grave violations against children, including the recruitment and use of children. While many parties to the conflict in Somalia, including the Federal Government and member states, recruit and use children, Al-Shabaab remains the most prolific perpetrator.
From October 2021 to March 2022, the country task force on monitoring and reporting verified 1,489 grave violations affecting 1,218 children (911 boys and 307 girls), of which the majority were attributed to Al-Shabaab, followed by the regional forces of the national army and clan militias.
24. The recruitment and use of children are also related to ongoing military offensives and operations in the country. Between October 2021 and March 2022, 510 children, including 42 girls, were reportedly used or recruited by armed groups, according to the country task force on monitoring and reporting mechanism, with Al-Shabaab accounting for 374 (73 per cent) of the cases and clan militias and security forces making up the remainder.
25. Humanitarian partners continue to support children who were subjected to forced recruitment by armed groups. From October 2021 to March 2022, the United Nations Children’s Fund and its partners supported 1,591 children (1,355 boys and 236 girls) formerly associated with armed forces and groups, including 977 at-risk children (803 boys, 174 girls).