Attachments
The operational environment for Somalia remained fluid in July. Tensions were high, primarily due to an increase in armed conflict and insecurity, causing an upsurge in displacement. The overall political scenario remained complex and unpredictable due to deep rooted political differences.
The current drought has affected over seven million people and displaced almost a million, mostly women, children, and elderly. UNHCR continued to work with the authorities and partners through the inter-agency cluster system to deliver protection and lifesaving assistance to the most vulnerable internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Operational Context
In July, the operational context in Somalia remained complex and characterized by the risk of famine, insecurity due to the increased frequency of armed conflict and other security threats, and fragile political situation.
The drought in Somalia worsened in July, with nearly half of the country’s population needing humanitarian and protection assistance. If crop and livestock production fail extensively, commodity prices continue to rise, and the scale-up of humanitarian assistance is not sustained and increased, there is a reasonable chance that Somalis in 17 districts will face famine by September.1 Majority of those affected by the drought are women, children, and elderly. Compared to the same period last year, the prevalence of gender-based violence (GBV) and presence of unaccompanied and separated children have spiked in IDP sites across the country.
Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre reiterated his commitment to work towards political stability by strengthening cooperation between the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and the Federal Member States (FMS). Yet political differences remain acute. Due to lack of political consensus, the Prime Minister was unable to form the new cabinet in July.
The overall security situation in the country remained tense, particularly in Bay, Bakool,
Lower Shabelle, and Banadir regions. Al-Shabab for the first time crossed the SomaliEthiopian border from Bakool region. The incursion into Ethiopia’s Somali region resulted in armed conflict, unknown number of civilian fatalities, and displacement of thousands of people to Somalia. The armed group also increased its attacks against the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), Somali security forces, and government officials.
According to the UNHCR-led Protection and Return Monitoring Network (PRMN), some 933,000 individuals have been displaced internally within Somalia in 2022. In July, 124,000 new displacements were recorded, among which 84,000 were triggered by the drought and 39,000 by conflict. The displaced families face multiple protection risks and have identified food, livelihood, shelter, health, water, and basic need items as priority needs.
Somalia also hosts some 33,387 refugees and asylum-seekers, among which 70 percent are women and children. The majority of refugees and asylum-seekers (68 percent) are from Ethiopia, followed by Yemen (28 percent) and Syria (3 percent). Most refugees and asylum-seekers reside in urban or peri-urban settings across Woqooyi Galbeed and Bari regions, in the northern part of the country. Furthermore, 135,634 former refugees have returned to Somalia from their country of asylum, mostly from Kenya followed by Yemen.