If the April to June Gu season rains fail as forecast, food prices continue to rise, and humanitarian assistance is not scaled up to reach the most vulnerable populations, Somalia now faces famine (IPC Phase 5) in six areas through June 2022.
The 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan, which calls for nearly $1.5 billion to help 5.5 million of Somalis who are most vulnerable, was only 4.4 percent funded as of April 7.
Drought is spreading across the country, with moderate to severe drought affecting the majority of the country. As of March 2022, an estimated 4.9 million people have been affected across the country, with over 719,000 internally displaced.
Since the beginning of 2022, acute food insecurity has risen significantly. According to the most recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) projections, more than 6 million people are likely to face food insecurity crisis or worse (IPC Phase 3 or higher) from April to June 2022. Livestock deaths and disease outbreaks are common; already, up to 80% of the country’s water sources are drying up, and the Shabelle and Juba Rivers’ water levels are below historic minimum levels.
An estimated 3.5 million people do not have enough water. Through 2022, over 1.4 million children under the age of five are expected to be acutely malnourished, with nearly 330,000 of them severely malnourished as the situation with regard to nutrition worsens
Furthermore, unresolved political tensions and ongoing insecurity/conflict continue to disrupt livelihoods, market access, and exacerbate population displacement. Throughout Somalia, the majority of the main settlements for internally displaced people (IDPs) are classified as being in the food security emergency phase (IPC Phase 4) until June 2022.
To meet the increased needs, humanitarian partners, authorities, and local communities have prioritized responses, re-programmed activities, and scaled up assistance. In January and February, 186 humanitarian partners provided life-saving assistance and protection to nearly 2 million people. To avoid extreme food insecurity and malnutrition, including the risk of famine, humanitarian assistance must be scaled up even more.
This comes amid one of the worst La Nia-induced droughts in recent memory in the Horn of Africa, which has seen three consecutive dry seasons. This drought in the Horn of Africa has the potential to become one of the worst climate-related disasters in recent memory. To date, the rains in March and May have been below average, and this trend is expected to continue. If this season fails, it will set off an unprecedented (in the last 40 years) string of four below-normal rainfall seasons, resulting in significant increases in humanitarian needs.
Ethiopia
Since a convoy of 20 trucks carrying food and nutrition supplies and one fuel tanker arrived on April 1 and 2, the UN and its partners have been unable to move any more aid supplies into Tigray by road.
This was the first time our supplies had arrived in Tigray by road since mid-December, and the first time humanitarian fuel supplies had passed through the Semera—Mekelle corridor in eight months.
Due to a lack of essential supplies and the continued suspension of basic essential services such as banking, electricity, and communications, humanitarian organizations in Tigray are finding it increasingly difficult to reach people in need.
The UN and partners have reached 1.2 million people with food, almost six months after the current round of food distributions in Tigray began, out of a target of 5.2 million people who should receive food every six weeks.
This week, 73,000 people received food assistance, but half of them only received pulses, and thousands only received cooking oil. Due to a lack of food supplies, school feeding has been impossible in Tigray for the past week.
UN partners were only able to reach 27,000 people in Tigray with health services this week, out of an estimated 3.9 million people who require some form of assistance. UN airlifts between Addis Ababa and Mekelle have continued this week, with approximately 76 metric tons of nutrition supplies flying in. Since January, a total of 428 metric tons of humanitarian supplies have been transported by air. This has been critical, but it only equates to about 11 trucks, or half of what a standard road convoy could transport.
Afar
Despite some reported improvements in access, the overall humanitarian situation in neighboring Afar remains dire. Since late February, partners had reached more than 196,000 people with food, accounting for roughly one-third of the population in need. In 12 conflict-affected areas in Afar, mobile health and nutrition teams are also operating.
Amhara
Despite the tense security situation in some parts of Amhara, the UN and its partners have been able to reach 634,000 people with food since the end of March, and over 10 million since December. Over the last week, ten more mobile health and nutrition teams were deployed in Amhara.
Drought
In other parts of Ethiopia, serious humanitarian challenges persist, with more than 8 million people now reported to be affected by the ongoing drought in the country’s south.
Ukraine
With $677 billion people worldwide raised, the US$1.1 billion Flash Appeal is close to 60% funded.