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Somalia Humanitarian Fund Annual Report 2020

Pays
Somalie
Sources
OCHA
Date de publication

2020 IN REVIEW
SOMALIA HUMANITARIAN FUND AT A GLANCE

HUMANITARIAN CONTEXT

Humanitarian situation in 2020
The humanitarian crisis in Somalia continues to be characterized by ongoing conflicts, climate-related shocks, communicable disease outbreaks and weak social protection mechanisms. In 2020, three additional shocks contributed to a deterioration of humanitarian conditions: extensive floods, desert locust infestations, and the COVID-19 pandemic. These compounding shocks have exacerbated humanitarian needs among a population already living under the strain of widespread poverty and decades of armed conflict and insecurity. In comparison to 2019, the number of people in need of assistance in 2020 increased by 24 per cent, from 4.2 to 5.2 million.

Erratic weather conditions
Climate change continued to be a major contributing factor to displacement and food insecurity in Somalia. Increasingly erratic weather patterns and climatic shocks led to prolonged and severe drought conditions and floods, with devastating humanitarian consequences. There was a sharp rise in the level of the Shabelle River due to heavy rains in the country and in the Ethiopian highlands. Consequently, flooding occurred, displacing 919,000 people in 2020 and destroying essential infrastructure, property and 144,000 hectares of agricultural land. At least 27 districts were flooded, the worst-hit area being Belet Weyne in Hiraan region, where riverine flooding displaced more than 115,000 people.

Locust invasion
Somalia also experienced the worst desert locust invasion in 25 years, with new swarms reported in Somaliland, Puntland and Galmudug states. Tens of thousands of hectares of cropland and pasture were damaged, with severe consequences for agriculture and pastoral based livelihoods.

Food Insecurity and malnutrition
Food insecurity and nutrition concerns remained widespread across Somalia in 2020. There were huge food and nutrition gaps among poor farming and livestock-keeping communities, as well as among the marginalized and displaced. Severe acute malnutrition rates among children were high. At the same time, inaccessibility to clean water in many areas heightened the risk of outbreaks of waterborne diseases, adding to pre-existing vulnerabilities. The median Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) prevalence has remained Serious (10-14.9 per cent) for the past three consecutive seasons (13.1 per cent in 2019/2020 Deyr, 13.8 per cent in 2019 Gu and 12.6 per cent in 2018/2019. High levels of acute malnutrition persisted, driven by several factors, including high morbidity, below sphere immunization and Vitamin-A supplementation, poor childcare practices, inadequate access to safe drinking water and acute food insecurity. Compared to 2019, death rates among children under age 5 in severe acute malnutrition (SAM) programmes are higher in 10 out of 16 regions in 2020.

Internal displacements and protection risks
Internally displaced persons (IDPs) remain the most vulnerable population group in Somalia. Serious protection concerns and rights violations persisted in Somalia in 2020, forcing many to flee and exposing them to multiple risks while displaced. This impeded the effective implementation of durable solutions. Many of these protection concerns stem from negative and hazardous coping mechanisms applied by destitute and food-insecure families. Examples include early marriage, family separation, voluntary child recruitment, child labour and hazardous adult labour. Rights violations and abuses, such as gender-based violence (GBV), including sexual violence, child recruitment, attacks on civilian areas and infrastructures and forced displacement remained features of the protection crisis in Somalia. In addition to clan-based violence, the conflict between government forces, their allies and non-state armed groups continued to endanger the safety of people in need and was a key driver for displacement. Furthermore, drought-induced population displacement increased.

Security and access constraints
Somalia remains one of the most insecure countries in the world to operate in, particularly for aid workers. This adversely affected on the humanitarian community’s ability to reach those in need. Humanitarian partners faced multiple obstacles in their delivery of assistance across Somalia, including active hostilities and access challenges. Between 1 January and 31 December 2020, 255 incidents affecting humanitarian operations were recorded in which 15 humanitarian workers were killed, 12 injured, 24 abducted and 14 detained or temporarily arrested. By comparison, 151 incidents were recorded for the whole of 2019.

Despite challenges, humanitarian partners continue to reach people in need across Somalia. During 2020, 2.3 million people (87 per cent) out of a targeted 3 million were reached with assistance. Over 1.5 million people were provided with health and water, Sanitation & Hygiene (wASH) services, 445,000 persons benefited from education services and 288,000 per-sons were provided with nutrition support, including 166,000 boys and girls (6-59 months) suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM).

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