Tag: Somalia

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Two Million Displaced by Drought in Horn of Africa

10 January 2023 – by Cosmo Sanderson

Over two million people have been uprooted in the Horn of Africa as the region suffers its worst drought for generations. 

UNICEF last month released the latest estimate of how many people have been internally displaced by the drought across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

Other bleak statistics released by the children’s aid agency are that over 20 million children are threatened by severe hunger, thirst and disease – up from 10 million in July. 

Nearly two million children in those three countries are thought to need urgent treatment for severe acute malnutrition, which UNICEF says is the deadliest form of hunger. A further four million children are at risk of dropping out of school. 

This has been caused through a combination of the climate crisis, conflict, global inflation and grain shortages that continue to “devastate” the region, says UNICEF. 

“While collective and accelerated efforts have mitigated some of the worst impact of what had been feared, children in the Horn of Africa are still facing the most severe drought in more than two generations,” said Lieke van de Wiel, UNICEF deputy regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa. 

In a report published last month, the NASA Earth Observatory went further in saying that the Horn of Africa is experiencing the “longest and most severe drought on record”. 

To make matters even worse, UNICEF says the region is now facing an “unprecedented” fifth consecutive failed rainy season, with a poor outlook for the sixth as well. 

Last year, the International Organization for Migration launched a new project to provide emergency relief to those displaced by the crisis in Somalia. 

Elsewhere in Africa, including South Sudan and Nigeria, erratic weather conditions have led to devastating floods that have also resulted in mass displacement. 

The World Bank has previously predicted that there will be 85.7 million climate migrants in sub-Saharan Africa by 2050. 

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New Project to Help Those Displaced by Somalia Crisis

27 October 2022 – by Cosmo Sanderson

As Somalia teeters on the edge of a famine that could cause a rate of child death not seen in half a century, a new project has been launched to provide emergency relief to those displaced by the crisis.  

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced on 18 October that a new US$20 million project had launched to tackle the pressing needs of 71,000 displaced and vulnerable people affected by the historic drought. 

Over a million people have been displaced in Somalia since January 2021, which marked the start of a drought now stretching across four failed rainy seasons. A failed fifth rainy season is thought to be likely, as is a rare formal declaration of famine. The crisis has been driven by global warming. 

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that half a million children are at risk of dying from malnutrition. “Without greater action and investment, we are facing the death of children on a scale not seen in half a century,” said spokesperson James Elder. 

The IOM is partnering with the World Bank and the Somalian government on the new project, which will provide emergency relief and enhance abilities to recover and adapt through long-term housing solutions and infrastructure development.

“The project comes at a critical time as the most severe drought in four decades pushes millions of people further into poverty, starvation and displacement, with thousands at risk of eviction,” said Ewa Naqvi, IOM deputy chief of mission in Somalia.

Many Somalis that have left rural areas are living in informal settlements on the outskirts of cities where they face “fear and intimidation,” says the IOM, with a high risk of forced evictions. 

Ismail Abdirahman Sheikh Bashir of Somalia’s Ministry of Public Works, Reconstruction and Housing said the project would “urgently address the water, sanitation, shelter, health and nutritional needs of drought-affected families.”

Image credit: Flickr/Ivan Radic