Greater Horn of Africa Region: Humanitarian Snapshot (October 2019)
Two consecutive failed rainy seasons in some areas, floods in others, internal violence in multiple locations and economic shocks have left nearly 23.6 million people severely food insecure in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan, while at least 280,000 people (one third of the population) face chronic food insecurity in Djibouti. In Somalia, the southern Gu season harvests were the worst recorded since 1995, while in Kenya’s south-eastern areas there was crop failure. Meanwhile, heavy rainfall and flooding affected over 800,000 people in South Sudan (364,600 people), Sudan (346,300) and Ethiopia (100,000). Rising food insecurity will increase the risk of gender-based violence in the affected areas.
Malnutrition levels are alarmingly high, with multiple areas across the region facing global acute malnutrition (GAM) rates above 30 per cent, more than double the emergency threshold. This includes Gebeb, Kochere and Yirgachefe in Ethiopia; Turkana South and North and Laisamis sub-counties in Kenya; and Renk county in Upper Nile, South Sudan.
Preventable disease outbreaks continue to be exacerbated by lack of access to clean water, poor hygiene and sanitation facilities. So far in 2019, more than 7,900 suspected cholera cases, including 19 deaths, have been reported in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Sudan, and more than 11,500 suspected cases of measles, including 92 deaths, in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan. There are also cases of chikungunya and vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 in Ethiopia; hepatitis E, yellow fever and rubella in South Sudan; and anthrax, dengue fever, Rift Valley fever and kala-azar in Kenya.