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Humanitarian Action for Children 2022 - Somalia

Countries
Somalia
Sources
UNICEF
Publication date
Origin
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HIGHLIGHTS

In Somalia, an estimated 7.7 million people, including 5 million children, will need humanitarian assistance in 2022 due to the devastating impact of conflict, insecurity, floods, drought, desert locusts infestation and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Girls, boys and families are experiencing food insecurity, higher food and other commodity prices coupled with a decrease in remittances, strained public services and significant protection challenges.

UNICEF partners with the Government, civil society organizations and the private sector to implement its humanitarian, development and resilience-building programmes while maintaining solid emergency preparedness and response capacity.

UNICEF appeals for US$177 million to provide humanitarian services to 1.3 million people, including 826,000 children in Somalia. The funds will allow UNICEF to scale up multi-sectoral basic services delivery focusing on hard-to-reach areas, introduce new programme components, such as humanitarian cash transfers, and strengthen its leadership role in cluster coordination and information management.

HUMANITARIAN SITUATION AND NEEDS

Humanitarian needs continue to rise in Somalia due to the protracted political crisis, armed conflict, climate change implications, desert locust infestation and COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, violence, armed groups, drought and floods continue to displace families, deepen vulnerabilities of host communities, affect access to essential services, and hinder aid delivery to the affected population. An estimated 71 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line. At least 58 per cent of internally displaced and 46 per cent of the host community members earn between US$0 to US$15 per month.

In total, 7.7 million people, including 5 million children, will need humanitarian assistance in 2022.
By the end of 2021, approximately 3.5 million people are expected to face a crisis or emergency.

Consequently, an estimated 1.3 million children under 5 years of age are likely to be wasted, including 295,000 severe cases. In addition, an estimated 6.5 million people lack access to essential health services16 that remain inadequate to serve the population's needs.

Out of the 2.9 million people displaced in Somalia, 574,000 were forced out of their homes in 2021, living in more than 2,400 displacement sites. Most of the displacement happened as a result of conflict, followed by drought. Furthermore, 92,000 people had been evicted by August. Vulnerable host communities have also been overburdened, competing over scarce resources.

Approximately 6.4 million people need access to emergency water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services. Some 2.4 million people need access to sustained safe drinking water, while 1.9 million people use water from unprotected sources such as wells and springs. In addition, 3.6 million people do not have access to improved sanitation facilities. As a result, vulnerable families often adopt negative coping strategies putting them at risk of waterborne diseases, including acute watery diarrhoea/cholera. Furthermore, high displacement rates and heightened risks of gender-based violence create psychosocial and mental health challenges for 2.3 million children. Children in the displacement sites are at higher risk of violence, while girls, women and minority groups are affected by sexual violence. Children with disabilities are especially vulnerable and have the most unmet needs.

COVID-19 school closures and other emergencies have disrupted children's education.
Consequently, over 3 million children currently require education in emergency support.

Finally, retention of crisis-affected children in schools and the capacity of education personnel have contributed to the deterioration in education outcomes and harmed student learning and well-being, especially for the vulnerable.