Attachments
Highlights
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Somalia's humanitarian situation in 2023 remains dire, with a staggering 50 per cent of the population (8.25 million people) requiring some form of humanitarian assistance; 6.5 million individuals face acute food insecurity, and 1.3 million are displaced due to conflict or climatic shocks, making this an especially difficult year.
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During the first half of 2023, moderate to heavy rains and rivers flowing from Ethiopia caused flash and riverine floods in multiple regions of Somalia, affecting 468,000 people and displacing 247,000 people from their homes.
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Disease outbreaks have spiked, with over 9,768 suspected cholera cases reported in 28 drought-affected districts; 3,006 suspected measles cases have been reported throughout the country since January.
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Since 6 February, Laas Canood has been embroiled in a relentless conflict which has displaced an estimated 154,000 to 203,000 people.
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Thus far in 2023, UNICEF has supported 257,001 people (60.5 per cent children) with emergency water supply and 1,024,987 children and women who have received lifesaving health care, in addition to 302,825 children (168,971 girls) who have been treated for severe acute wasting. Emergency education interventions have reached 21,182 children, while 116,392 children and their caregivers have been provided with psychosocial support services.
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The current humanitarian funding for UNICEF Somalia stands at 25 per cent. Should the financial gap persist, access to basic life-saving services will be hampered, leaving vulnerable communities in an even more precarious situation.
Situation in Numbers
5,100,000 children in need of humanitarian assistance (HNO 2023)
8,250,000 people in need (HNO 2023)
3,860,000 Internally Displaced People (HNO 2023)
Funding Overview and Partnership
In the first half of 2023, to support critical humanitarian action efforts, UNICEF Somalia has received US$26.6 million, which falls significantly short of the 2023 requirement of US$272.3 million. This amount represents a 33 per cent decline when compared to the funding received during the same time last year. As a consequence, UNICEF's humanitarian appeal has a funding shortfall of approximately 75 per cent, explicitly outlined in Annex B. During the reporting period, due to the generous contributions of donors such as BHA, ECHO, FCDO, Japan, Sweden, Canada, UNOCHA/CERF, and Kuwait, UNICEF and its partners managed to deliver essential lifesaving and life-sustaining assistance to affected children and their families. However, the needs remain significant and necessitate the continuing and urgent need to address the drastically escalating humanitarian requirements. This calls for substantial investments and reinforced partnerships among humanitarian, development, and peace actors. UNICEF Somalia urgently needs timely and flexible funding to ensure an effective and efficient response that provides crucial humanitarian assistance where it's needed most.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
While famine was narrowly averted in 2022, the humanitarian situation in Somalia remains critical due to a combination of climate change and conflict. Political tensions across various regions and a flailing economy further add to the challenges affecting livelihoods. Furthermore, the number of people requiring humanitarian aid in Somalia has been consistently rising over the years, from 5.2 million in 2020 to 5.9 million in 2021; from 7.7 million in 2022 to the current 8.25 million people in 2023. This number includes 1.5 million children under five years of age and 1.8 million girls and 1.8 million boys aged between 5 to 17 years, inevitably resulting in an escalation of the number of people targeted for assistance. To address the cycle of recurring humanitarian crises, it is crucial to direct investments towards improvements in livelihoods, enhancement of resilience, development of infrastructure, climate adaptation measures, and implementation of lasting solutions.
In January 2023, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis indicated that agropastoral communities in Burhakaba district, Bay region and internally displaced people (IDP) in Mogadishu and Baidoa settlements were at risk of experiencing famine between April and June 2023. The IPC analysis also indicated that 6.5 million people - 31.3 per cent of the population – were suffering from acute food insecurity, with certain pockets of the population reaching emergency levels. Furthermore, an estimated 1.8 million children under the age of five face acute malnutrition in 2023, including 478,000 who will be severely wasted. The upcoming IPC survey results are expected to be released in August 2023.
Since mid-2021, there have been sharp and alarming increases in food prices that have further exacerbated the already acute levels of food insecurity in most parts of Somalia. Unfortunately, these prices remain above five-year averages across many markets, making it too expensive for most poor households. Encouragingly, food prices have been on a declining trend over the past six months. However, the termination of the Black Sea Grain Initiative is poised to have a profound impact on Somalia — a country already grappling with uncertain seasons, low crop yields, and livestock deaths due to severe drought. As it heavily depends on cereal imports from Ukraine, such changes could considerably affect the country’s food security situation.
The devastating heavy rains that began in April and the consequent flooding of rivers flowing from Ethiopia have had a serious impact on 468,000 people living in Beletweyne and other districts. The flooding has displaced 247,000 people and destroyed and contaminated 97 per cent of the water sources in Beletweyne town, Hirshabelle state.
In 2023, more than 8 million people including 4,960,000 children (2,529,600 girls, 2,430,400 boys) need an emergency water supply. Water insecurity continues to increase the risks of disease outbreaks. Since 2022, WHO has reported recurrent cholera epidemics in Somalia's drought-affected districts, with no interruption in transmission in the Banadir region since 2017. The number of cholera cases reported in drought-affected districts has considerably increased in 2023 compared to the same time period in the previous two years. In 2023, 9,768 cases of suspected cholera and 28 deaths (Case Fatality Rate 0.3 per cent ) were reported in 28 drought-affected districts, of which 5,371 (55 per cent) were children under the age of five, 4,620 (51.5 per cent) were women and 4,405 (45.1 per cent) were severe cases.
The regions reporting most of the cases were Gedo (3,361), Lower Juba (2,207), and Banadir (1,760). Since the start of this year, there have been a total of 5,239 suspected cases of measles reported across the country, with 73 per cent (3,812) being children under five years of age.
Out of the total of 1,349,000 who were newly displaced across the country, 369,000 people were displaced due to the drought7 . The resurgence of armed conflict caused the displacement of 531,000 people across the country,154,000 to 203,000 in Laas Canood district. Most IDPs from Laas Canood fled to areas in Bari, Garowe, Mudug, Sool, and Togdheer regions.
A number of factors, such as droughts, floods, insecurity, and conflicts, combined with the resulting poor accessibility, have aggravated the already critical protection situation of children in Somalia. As reported by the Education Cluster, close to 4.84 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 are currently out of school. This alarmingly includes an estimated 3.85 million children from both displaced and non-displaced communities, urgently requiring access to emergency education services. Sadly, only 21 per cent of the newly displaced children can access education compared to 39 per cent of children who are not displaced.
In 2023, an estimated 3.5 million children will need emergency child protection services. Also, a matter of serious concern is the increasing exposure of children to unexploded ordnance, exemplified recently when 22 children tragically died in an explosion of a remnant of war in the Lower Shabelle region. It is indisputable that Somalia, after decades of conflict, needs large-scale risk education activities, particularly in newly accessible communities.
Areas that were previously outside government control have become accessible, some for the first time in more than 10 years. However, the conditions in these areas remain delicate as the terms for unimpeded and secure humanitarian access are still evolving and subject to change.
UNICEF, along with its partners, is augmenting its efforts across all sectors to tackle the escalating needs of the population impacted by droughts, floods, conflicts and disease outbreaks. The country’s humanitarian situation requires expansion of humanitarian aid to thwart severe water deficits, drastic threats of food insecurity, and chronic malnutrition and severe wasting. In spite of the complicated operational conditions, UNICEF and its partners are maintaining a steady delivery of services throughout Somalia.