Somalia: humanitarian needs on upswing due to drought, violence – UN
Drought and continuing violence are driving Somalia’s humanitarian needs upward, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today, adding that only one-third of the nearly $1 billion in funds sought for the country have been received so far.
Drought and continuing violence are driving Somalia’s humanitarian needs upward, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today, adding that only one-third of the nearly $1 billion in funds sought for the country have been received so far.
At least 3.2 million people – or 40 per cent of the Horn of Africa nation’s population – will continue to need humanitarian assistance and livelihood support through this September, with latest assessments indicating that current rains could offer short-term relief from water and pasture shortages in some areas.
The food segment of the UN’s Consolidate Appeal Process (CAP) has been the best-funded so far at 42 per cent, but the World Food Programme (WFP) said that it needs an additional $60 million to cover needs for the next six months.
Clashes between Government forces and insurgents in the capital, Mogadishu, between 8-14 May were the worst in recent months, claiming civilian lives and displacing 42,000 people.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), half of the uprooted have fled to Mogadishu’s neighbouring Afgooye district, which is already home to over 400,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs).
WFP, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and their partners are seeking how to scale up their nutritional intervention schemes to reach additional severely acute malnourished and moderately acute malnourished children, OCHA said.
Last week, the Security Council demanded that extremists groups in Somalia immediately end their offensive in the capital against the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), expressing concern over the mounting death toll and worsening humanitarian situation in the capital.
In a presidential statement read out by Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia, which holds the rotating Council presidency for May, the 15-member body also condemned the recent surge in violence led by al-Shabaab and other groups, which it said constitutes an attempt to remove the legitimate Government by force.