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Somalia Situation Report, 5 April 2020 [EN/SO]

Países
Somalia
Fuentes
OCHA
Fecha de publicación
Origen
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HIGHLIGHTS

  • Covid-19 preparedness and response scaled up

  • Government has announced various COVID-19 control measures

  • Gu rains have started with moderate to heavy showers

  • Thousands of people displaced in Lower Shabelle region

  • SHF to allocate US$22 million but more resources needed

KEY FIGURES

4.1M # of food insecure people

1.3M # of people in emergency and crisis

2.8M # of people in stress

1M # of children projected to be malnourished

2.6M # of internally displaced persons

FUNDING (2019)

$1.1B Required

$899M Received

83% Progress

ANALYSIS

Coronavirus (COVID-19) preparedness and response scaled up across Somalia

In conjunction with Somali authorities, UN agencies and partners in Somalia have consolidated the humanitarian components of the integrated Country Preparedness and Response Plan (CPRP) to address the humanitarian consequences of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The two-pronged plan, which aligns with federal and state plans, focuses on scaling up specific COVID-19 related interventions, mainly by reinforcing healthcare services, while maintaining critical programmes and activities within the 2020 Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP).

Somalia has so far recorded five cases and has instituted measures to contain the possible spread of COVID-19 including closing schools, banning large gatherings and suspending international and domestic passenger flights. While preventing deaths and debilitating illness are the prime concerns, humanitarian partners are also concerned about the possible impact of the virus on the livelihoods of vulnerable populations in Somalia including internally displaced people, food insecure communities, and people living in locust infested or flood-prone areas. The reliance on remittance by relatives in the diaspora is also likely to diminish as bread winners outside the country see their economic opportunities reduced.

Given the current global context of the outbreak, including the exponential reporting of confirmed cases, the risk of COVID-19 spreading remains high because of crowded living conditions in urban centres and poor hygiene practices. According to WHO, countries in fragile, conflict and vulnerable settings like Somalia are especially at risk for wide-spread community transmission should an imported case go undetected among the general population.

Somalia’s capacities to prevent, detect and respond to any global health security threat scored 6 out of 100 as measured by the Health Emergency Preparedness Index in 2016. The number of health workers in different parts of the country is 2 per 100,000 people compared to the global standard of 25 per 100,000 people. Less than 20 per cent of health facilities have the required equipment and supplies to manage epidemics.

The most vulnerable population includes over 2.6 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in overcrowded sites with poor hygiene. Due to their low economic status, the IDPs have limited access to health care service, if at all. Many also lack safe drinking water, clean latrines and hygiene kits including soap. Apart from IDPs, the elderly - approximately 2.7 per cent of the population - and the urban poor, are also considered vulnerable groups who could be heavily impacted should COVID-19 spread.

The CPRP will complement the Government’s national preparedness plan launched on 26 March, which seeks US$57.8 million to scale up preparedness, readiness and response over the next nine months. It is informed by the Government’s analysis of the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 and aligned to WHO’s strategic preparedness and response guidelines.

Various control measures have been announced

The five cases include one employee of a commercial contractor engaged by the UN who was in quarantine for eight days after arriving from abroad prior to diagnosis. Since confirming the first case on 16 March, Somalia set up a national COVID-19 task force and trained health workers on preparedness and response, among other control measures. Health workers have been deployed to all 23 officially designated points of entry, including the four international airports at Mogadishu, Garowe, Bossaso and Hargeisa. The borders with neighbouring Ethiopia and Kenya have also been closed, halting cross-border movements of people between Doolow in Gedo region in Somalia, Dollo Ado in Ethiopia and Mandera in Kenya. The restrictions will affect people who were recently displaced by violence in Gedo. It will also affect 300,000 beneficiaries of the cross-border Building Opportunity for Resilience in the Horn of Africa (BORESHA) project that is being implemented in Doolow Somalia, Dollo Ado of Ethiopia and Mandera, Kenya.

On 25 March, the Government received a donation of testing kits and other preventive products from the Chinese billionaire and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma. The donation included 20,000 testing kits, 100,000 face masks and 1,000 protective suits and face shields, which the Government is distributing to various states.

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