ReliefWeb

HIGHLIGHTS

• Humanitarian partners target 3 million people in 2020

• 4.1 million people face acute food insecurity

• Somalia declares national emergency over locusts

• UN and Somalia Government launch Durable Solutions Strategy

Humanitarian partners to assist 3 million people in Somalia in 2020

The Federal Government of Somalia, the United Nations and humanitarian partners launched the 2020 Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) on 22 January, with an appeal for US$1.03 billion to provide life-saving assistance and livelihood support to 3 million people out of 5.2 million who need assistance this year. The people targeted for assistance include 1.7 million people who were displaced by conflict, insecurity, forced evictions as well as droughts and floods.

The 2020 HRP funding requirement has decreased by 11 per cent ($120 million) from $1.08 billion in 2019 although the total number of people in need has increased by 19 per cent (1 million people) from 4.2 million people in 2019.
However, the total targeted population has decreased by 12 per cent (400,000 people) from 3.4 million in 2019 due to better prioritization and targeting in response planning.

The response plan focuses on four core objectives: (i) reduce the prevalence of acute malnutrition and health needs; (ii) meet the basic needs of people across 74 districts; (iii) strengthen protection, right to safety and dignity; and (iv) enhance capacity of IDPs and non-IDPs to cope with significant shocks. The HRP aims to provide food assistance monthly to 2.1 million people, support access to education for more than 300,000 children, provide health assistance to 2.5 million people, deliver safe water to more than 1.2 million people and non-food items to 1.24 million people, as well as address conflict-related protection concerns, including the risk of gender-based violence.

“As we launch this plan, we must reflect on the nature of humanitarian crises that Somalia continues to suffer,” said Mr. Adam Abdlemoula, Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia. “While Somalia remains a protection crisis, climatic shocks — mainly drought and flooding — have become a major driver of humanitarian need. Since 1990, Somalia has experienced 30 climate-related hazards, 12 droughts and 18 floods, three times as many climatic events as between 1970 and 1990. We would be foolish not to expect that this cycle of hazards will continue in the coming years.”

Need for durable solutions to address underlying challenges

The HRP recognises that long-term durable solutions are required in Somalia to break the cycle of humanitarian crises. Humanitarian interventions will alleviate short-term needs but the focus must be on addressing the underlying development challenges as well.

In 2019, donors provided 87 per cent of the requested funds for the HRP ($879.8 million).
However, the funding was imbalanced across clusters, with some clusters like Shelter and Health much less funded than Food Security and Nutrition. With the available funding, humanitarian partners were able to reach at least 2 million people every month.

For example, WFP in December reached about 2.3 million women, men and children in communities most affected by acute food and nutrition insecurity with more than half of them receiving cash-based transfers worth nearly $12 million. In addition, about 538,000 pregnant and lactating women, and children aged 6-59 months received preventive and curative nutrition assistance.