ReliefWeb

PRIORITY NEEDS

Acute and chronic food insecurity and high levels of malnutrition

An estimated 3.2 million Somalis need life - saving assistance and livelihood investment aimed at strengthening their resilience to shocks. This comprises 870,000 people, of which over 70 per cent are internally displaced persons (IDPs), who require life - saving humanitarian assistance, and an additional 2.3 million who people remain highly vulnerable to climatic shocks and are on the margin of food insecurity through the end of the year. Among the 3.2 million people in need , there are about 206,000 children who are acutely malnourished . An estimated 600,000 children, including the acutely malnourished, and 100,000 pregnant and lactating mothers need sustained nutritional support to prevent them from becoming acutely malnourished.

Inadequate and poor basic services

Somalia has emerged from over two decades of civil war and lack of access to basic social services is a chronic and pervasive problem across the country . All of the 3.2 million people in emergency, crisis and stress phases ( see definition on page 3 ) do not have access to health care and are in need of emergency health assistance ; while, 2.75 million of them do not have sustainable access to water , sanitation and hygiene. Over 1.74 million school - age children , among the 3.2 million people in need, have no access to education. Of the total people in need, a bout 1.1 million people livin g in settlements for displaced people are worst off , with their most pressing need being emergency shelter and basic household items

Displacement and violations against civilians

The conflict in many parts of the south continues to cause destruction of livelihoods, violations of civilians’ rights, and displacement. Many people in Somalia face or are at a risk of facing various forms of violations and exploitation; however, the sections of the population that are in need of direct and urgent protection assistance are the 1.1 million IDPs and an estimated 10,000 migrants who live in the country. Sexual and gender - based violence against women and girls, including rape, is widespread in Somalia, particularly in settlements where displaced people reside. Bearing in mind that most cases of sexual violence are not reported, in the first half of the year alone, a bout 800 cases of sexual and gender - based violence were reported in Mogadishu , with similarly high incidences reported in other areas. Armed groups continue to commit grave violations against children, primarily abductions and forced recruitment. An estimated 57,800 people were displaced since January 2013 due to conflict and climatic factors. An additional 21,000 Somalis fled to neighbor ing countries during the same period. At the same time, 15,000 IDPs returned to their place of origin, the majority of them to Bay, Lower Shabelle and Middle Shabelle regions. Between January and July 2013, some 24,500 refugees returned to Somalia between January and July 2013, mostly from Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, adding more strain on host populations in receiving areas and humanitarian agencies providing assistance in Somalia.