Highlights
• Somalia declared a drought emergency on April 25, 2021. The 2021 deyr season is the third consecutive below-average rainfall season since late 2020, and persistent drought is leading to one of the worst deyr harvests on record alongside a severe water shortage that is affecting 3.2 million people.
• In addition, conflict remains a core driver of displacement in the country.
In 2021, 544,000 people were displaced due to conflict and insecurity.
• The COVID-19 pandemic is posing unique public health, economic, and social risks in Somalia. The country reported a total of 23,532 cases with 1,333 deaths as of December 31, 2021. UNICEF is supporting the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and, as of December 31st, 1,589,530 doses have been administered.
• UNICEF, through its partners, also continues to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance to people in need. In 2021, 176,073 affected children (48 per cent girls) were supported to access education; 257,021 children (55 per cent girls) were treated for SAM; 360,923 people received essential health services; 1.1 million people were reached with access to sustainable safe water and 74,663 people (21,816 girls, 25,975 boys, 14,980 women, and 11,892 men) received psychosocial support services.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
In 2021, a combination of three consecutive dry seasons, severe water shortages, and rising food prices has left Somalia as the Horn of Africa’s most severely drought-affected country. More than 3.2 million people in 66 of Somalia’s 74 districts have been hit by the severe drought. According to the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit’s (FSNAU) projections, an estimated 3.8 million Somalis are at risk of severe food insecurity through January 2022. An estimated 1,281,944 children under the age of five years face acute malnutrition by July 2022, including 295,515 likely to be severely malnourished.
Water scarcity and drought conditions have contributed to rising water prices, causing displacement and diarrhoearelated morbidity in many parts of Somalia.The WASH cluster reported that Gedo, Bay, Bakol, Lower Jubba, Galgadud, Mudug, and parts of Bari, Nugaal, Sool, Sanaag, Togdheer, and Hiraan are the worst affected regions.
According to the education cluster, 1.4 million school-aged children are affected by the drought. As a result, 420,000 school-aged children (45% of whom are girls) are at risk of dropping out of school. Without timely action, learners’ absenteeism is likely to increase, resulting in more school dropouts. Furthermore, school dropouts put children at risk of recruitment into armed groups, sexual violence, child labor, and early marriage.
In Somalia, 2.9 million people have been displaced. 874, 000 people were displaced in 2021 alone, with 544,000 (62.4%) displaced due to conflict, 245,000 (28%) due to drought, 62,000 (10.6%) due to floods, and the remaining 22,000 displaced due to other factors. Displacement patterns in Somalia remain protracted, while climate-related shocks are more intense and frequent, requiring sustainable development and durable solutions with peace-building interventions now more than ever.
Furthermore, the children of Somalia continue to suffer from various forms of grave child rights violations. According to the Secretary General’s annual report on Children Affected by Armed Conflict (CAAC), Somalia is the world’s most dangerous conflict for children. In comparison to other countries included in the Secretary General’s report, Somalia had the highest verified violations (23,374) over the last five years (2016–20). Following the release of this report, the Somali Group of Friends of CAAC issued a statement emphasizing the importance of child rights in international efforts to bring sustainable peace to Somalia.
The COVID-19 pandemic also continues to pose unique public health, economic, and social risks in Somalia. The Federal Ministry of Health reported a total of 23,532 positive cases and 1,333 deaths as of December 31, 2021. WHO is also indicating the need to increase the current COVID-19 vaccination uptake to enhance the COVID-19 prevention efforts.
UNICEF and partners are scaling up their response across all sectors to meet the rapidly growing needs of the displaced families and the host communities. This is done through risk-informed programming that takes into consideration conflict sensitivity, peacebuilding, and preparedness actions, among other cross-sectoral considerations.
Source: UN Children’s Fund