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Somalia

UNICEF Somalia Humanitarian Situation Report #11: 1 to 30 November 2018

Attachments

Highlights

• In Somaliland, the European Union and UNICEF inaugurated an urban water system established through a Public-Private Partnership model in Borama, Burco, Ceerigabo and Tog Wajaale, bringing safe and affordable water to 800,000 people.

• On 24 November, 34 children formerly associated with AlShabaab were transferred to Mogadishu from the UNICEF supported interim care centre in Garowe where they had been for two years. The children were initially sentenced to prison in Garowe and Bossaso, and later given presidential pardon on 20 August. The children will be reunified with their families and provided with reintegration support.

• Through a network of over 600 static and mobile treatment sites, UNICEF and partners exceeded the annual target of number of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) cases treated by 16 per cent, accounting for 87 per cent of the national SAM burden of 232,000 target.

Situation Overview and Humanitarian Needs

Despite improvements resulting from increased rainfall and sustained humanitarian action, significant needs persist in Somalia, particularly among internally displaced populations. Residual impacts of drought, ongoing displacement, conflict and marginalization continue to affect the most vulnerable. As per the FSNAU-FEWSNET 2018 Post Gu findings, 4.6 million people are still in need of humanitarian assistance, including an estimated 2.7 million children. The nutrition situation remains of concern with 954,000 children under-5 projected to be acutely malnourished from August 2018 to September 2019, including 173,000 expected to be suffering from SAM. There are also an estimated 2.6 million people displaced in country, including over 1 million in the last year alone, with women and children representing the majority of the displaced. Disease outbreaks such as acute watery diarrhoea (AWD)/cholera and measles continue to represent a major threat to children with 8,472 suspected measles cases (73 per cent being children under-5) and 6,273 suspected cases of AWD/cholera with 44 deaths reported in 2018. Over 3 million children, out of 4.9 million in the country, are estimated to be out of school. The growing trend of forced evictions continues; between January and October 2018, close to 235,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been evicted in Somalia. On average, over 11,000 IDPs are evicted every month, and many have been subjected to multiple evictions. Exclusion and discrimination of socially marginalized groups continue to exacerbate high levels of acute humanitarian needs. Child protection concerns are also on the rise; between January and September 2018, 3,566 children (including 569 girls) have been reported to be victims of grave violations committed by parties to the conflict. The Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting (CTFMR) also reports that 1,811 children (including 56 girls) were recruited by armed groups, an increase of 12 per cent when compared to the same period in 2017.