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Somalia Joint Multi-Cluster Needs Assessment: September 2018 - Initial findings

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Somalia
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REACH
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SUMMARY

CONTEXT

Somalia has recently experienced two natural disasters in the midst of a protracted armed conflict. The drought which began in 2016 – the third major drought in as many decades – pushed more than half of the country’s population into food insecurity and displaced 1.6 million people. Heavy rains in April 2018 ended the drought but resulted in extensive flash flooding, flooding in riverine areas, and cyclones along the northern coastline. Somalia is prone to periodic flooding and this year 830,000 people were affected, and 359,000 temporarily displaced. Simultaneously, the insecurity which has affected the country since 1991 continues to limit humanitarian access to affected populations, particularly in southern and central Somalia and along the contested border between Somaliland and Puntland.

The overarching result of recurrent natural disasters and continuous armed conflict has been the disruption of critical infrastructure and basic services, large population movements, insecurity and violence, and pervasive poverty. Simultaneously, rapid urbanisation driven by displacement, morphing livelihoods, deeply eroded household resilience, and widespread protection concerns have influenced a shifting humanitarian and development landscape. In light of the protracted crisis, integrated and harmonised information sources that support both the immediate and long-term response are ever more necessary, particularly through comprehensive multi-sectoral assessments and mapping activities. To address these information needs, REACH, in partnership with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) supported the second Joint Nationwide Multi-Cluster Needs Assessment (JMCNA) across Somalia.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.