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Somalia Humanitarian Fund Annual Report 2018

Countries
Somalia
Sources
OCHA
Publication date

2018 IN REVIEW

This Annual Report presents achievements of the SHF during the 2018 calendar year.
However, because grant allocation, project implementation and reporting processes often take place over multiple years as Country-Based Pooled Funds (CBPFs) are designed to support ongoing and evolving humanitarian responses, the achievement of CBPFs are reported in two distinct ways:

  1. Information on allocations for granted in 2018 (shown in blue). This method considers intended impact of the allocations rather than achieved results as project implementation and reporting often continues into the subsequent year and results information is not immediately available at the time of publication of annual reports.

  2. Results reported in 2018 attributed to allocations granted in 2018 and prior years (shown in orange). This method provides a more complete picture of achievements during a given calendar year but includes results from allocations that were granted in previous years. This data is extracted from final narrative reports approved between 1 January 2018 – 31 January 2019.

Figures for people targeted and reached may include double counting as individuals often receive aid from multiple cluster.

Contributions had been recorded based on the exchange rate when the cash was received, which may differ from the Certified Statement of Accounts that records contributions based on the exchange rate at the time of the pledge.

Humanitarian situation in 2018

The overall humanitarian situation in Somalia improved in 2018 due to the above-average April to June Gu rains during the first half of the year and sustained humanitarian response. But the gains were fragile as the rains also caused flooding in some areas in the south, causing destruction of crops and property, and displacing people from their homes. Concurrently, the tropical cyclone Sagar, one of the strongest storms ever recorded in Somalia, hit northern parts of the country, leaving a trail of destruction and displacing people recovering from recurrent droughts and conflict. As the year unfolded, the October to December Deyr rains underperformed and nutrition rates remained worryingly high; acute watery diarrhoea (AWD)/cholera outbreaks spread across regions in the south and forced evictions continued. Inter-clan conflict in Sool and the fighting in Lower Shabelle also intensified. By end- 2018, an estimated 4.2 million people, including 2.5 million children, remained in need of humanitarian assistance and protection due to repeated climatic shocks, continued conflict and violence. While that was less than in early 2018 (5.2 million), Somalia remained one of the most complex and long-standing humanitarian crises in the world.

Climatic conditions, food security and malnutrition

The favourable Gu rains between April and June 2018 brought relief to many, but also resulted in a widespread flooding, with riverine and flash floods causing crop and asset loses for some 830,000 people and displacing 290,000. Further destruction and displacement were caused by Cyclone Sagar, which left an entire year’s worth of rain in a matter of hours, affecting an estimated 228,800 people recovering from prolonged drought in the north. Despite the flood-related damages, above-average seasonal rainfall and large-scale deliveries of assistance have contributed to significant improvements in food security affected by drought between 2016 and 2017. The number of severely food insecure people reduced by 52 per cent from 3.1 million in September 2017 to 1.5 million in September 2018. The 2018 Deyr rainy season (October to December) was below-average to poor in many parts of Somalia. As a result, north-eastern and central regions continued to be affected by prolonged drought, with the overall humanitarian situation expected to worsen at least until the next rainy season in April 2019. While the general food security situation has improved, gains observed in respect to malnutrition were marginal. At year-end, some 903,100 children under the age of five were acutely malnourished, of whom 173,600 severely. Food insecurity, low diet diversity at household levels, limited availability of health services, increased morbidity, poor health seeking behaviours and difficulty in accessing clean water/adequate sanitation remained the key drivers of malnutrition in Somalia.

Internal displacements and protection risks

Conflict, climatic shocks and drought, lack of livelihood opportunities and evictions continued to drive displacements in Somalia. An estimated 2.6 million internally displaced people (IDPs) were living in displacement settlements in 2018, most of whom in southern Somalia’s Banadir, Lower Shabelle and Bay regions. IDPs live in particularly vulnerable circumstances and exposed to exploitation and abuse. They live in sub-standard conditions in crowded settlements and remain at high risk of AWD/cholera and measles outbreaks due to limited access to basic sanitation and hygiene services.
IDPs continue to face forced evictions, discrimination and gender-based violence (GBV), and lack adequate protection and durable solutions. The majority are women and children. Family separations, gender-based violence against children, forced recruitment and abductions are among the main violations against displaced children. In 2018, almost 60 per cent of people in crisis integrated phase classification - IPC 3 and emergency (IPC 4) levels were IDPs. Having limited access to land and livelihoods opportunities, IDPs are largely dependent on humanitarian assistance and need durable solutions.

Security and access constraints

The operating environment in Somalia remained complex and dangerous. Safety and security concerns, movement restrictions, active conflict, interference in the implementation of humanitarian activities and bureaucratic impediments continue to impact the ability of humanitarians to reach people in need in a timely manner and the ability of vulnerable people to access humanitarian assistance and protection. Violence against humanitarians operating particularly in southern and central Somalia continued to be a concern for regular and timely delivery of assistance. In 2018, 130 violent incidents involving humanitarians were recorded, leading to the death of 10, injury of 13, abduction of 24, and arrest and temporary detention of 18. Isolated incidents affecting humanitarian workers operating in northern Somalia were also recorded. The year also witnessed a rise in reported cases of criminality and looting of aid supplies. Armed violence and clashes at distribution sites were reported during the scale up of flood response in southern Somalia.
Unauthorized roadblocks and checkpoints, as well as reported extortion, continued to severely hamper the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Demands for arbitrary taxation, interference in supply and procurement procedures, as well as staff recruitment procedures also continued.

2018 Humanitarian Response Plan
Needs, targets and requirements in Somalia.

  • 6.2M people in need
  • 5.4M people targeted
  • 2.6M people displaced
  • $1.5BN funding requirement
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.