The country
Somalia is a country in Eastern Africa, located on the Horn of Africa. Its national capital is Mogadishu. The country shares land borders with Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya and is bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Somalia covers a land area of 637,657 square kilometers. As of 2024, the country had an estimated population of around 18.7 million people. Somalia is regarded as one of the most fragile and least developed states in the world.
The humanitarian situation
People in Somalia are facing one of the most complex humanitarian crises in the world. The crisis is driven by conflict, displacement, food insecurity, political instability, climatic shocks, poverty and economic decline. A devastating drought in the country had reached unprecedented levels in 2022. Five consecutive rainy seasons had failed, the longest and most severe drought in Somalia’s recent history. While humanitarian needs in Somalia remain high, improved access to water and pasture in 2023 has alleviated the impact of the severe and protracted historic drought.
The 2020-2023 drought came to an end in the second quarter of last year. Since then, the drought has given way to rainfall and flash floods. In 2023, Somalia was hit by unprecedented heavy rains and flooding, and new displacement. Before the start of the Deyr rainy season, more than 475,000 people had been displaced from their villages by these floods. Although the rains have brought some relief, it will be years before the historic drought is overcome.
Torrential rains in the Deyr rainy season (October to December 2023), due in part to the El Niño phenomenon, caused flash floods and massive flooding, affecting some 2.5 million people. More than 1.2 million men, women and children were displaced from their homes. The heavy flooding caused by the Deyr rainy season was the worst witnessed in decades.
Somalia still faces a heightened risk of flooding, drought, and extreme heat in the coming months stimulated by El Niño. The weather event is expected to prolong, which will likely lead to above-normal rainfall in March 2024 and early April (Gu rainy season), with the risk of new flash floods and riverine flooding, which could lead to additional deaths, displacement, and disease.
As of February 2024, an estimated 4.5 million Somalis are displaced. While more than 700,000 people have fled to neighboring countries, some 3.8 million people are internally displaced. More than 80 percent of those displaced are women and children.
In 2023, conflict, severe drought and devastating floods forced more than 2.9 million people in Somalia to flee their homes – a record rate of displacement for the country, with many families displaced more than once. The vast majority of people who fled their homes – 2.3 million or 75 percent – were displaced by climate shocks (1.7 million by flooding and 531,000 by drought). 653,000 people were force to flee due to conflict and violence last year.
In 2022, about 1.8 million people in Somalia had been forced to flee from their homes, including 1.2 million due to severe drought and 600,000 people due to conflict and violence.
Somalia is also hit by diseases. A cholera outbreak is spreading in several areas., with more than 18,000 cases reported in 2023.
The United Nations estimates that around 6.9 million people will be in need of humanitarian assistance in 2024, a significant decrease - 16 percent - compared to 2023. In 2023, 8.25 million people, almost half of the population, were relying on humanitarian assistance and protection. Among the people in need of aid were 4.9 million children.
According to the latest IPC analysis, some 4.3 million people - a quarter of Somalia’s population - still face crisis or worse levels of hunger, including more than 1 million under IPC phase 4 (emergency) and 3.3 million under phase 3 (crisis). Acute malnutrition among children remains at high levels. A total of 1.5 million children - 40 percent - under five face acute malnutrition; 330,000 of these children face severe malnutrition and may be at risk of dying without immediate treatment.
The impact of the drought and widespread insecurity were driving Somalia to the brink of famine. The drought had devastated the lives and livelihoods of the most vulnerable and marginalized people. Significant efforts in scaling up humanitarian assistance and more favorable rains than predicted have led to a moderate improvement in food security.
While famine has been averted in Somalia, the United Nations (UN) says the underlying food crisis remains alarming. An estimated 43,000 excess deaths may have occurred in 2022 in Somalia due to the extended drought. It is feared that half of these deaths may have occurred among children under the age of 5.
Without sustained humanitarian help, the number of people facing acute food insecurity is likely to increase again. Despite this, the World Food Programme (WFP) had to reduce the number of people it assists each month from 4.7 million to 3 million at the end of April 2023 and may have to make further cuts as the UN agency lacks the necessary funds.
Humanitarian operations in Somalia remain severely underfunded. When funding is scarce, aid agencies are having to prioritize the most vulnerable in areas with the greatest severity of needs.
The 2024 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) for Somalia seeks US$1.6 billion to help 5.2 million of the 6.9 million people in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance and protection this year. Though the number of people in need has decreased from 8.25 million last year, the percentage of people targeted has also decreased from 92 percent in 2023 to 75 percent in 2024 due to anticipated underfunding.
Due to lacking funds and pressure from donor countries, aid agencies will this year implement a more rigorously targeted response, with a focus on assisting women, men, and children in ‘extreme’ and ‘catastrophic’ levels of need, meaning the severe needs of millions of others will remain unmet.
The Humanitarian Response Plan for 2023 called for US$2.6 billion to meet the critical needs of 7.6 million people in 2023. Yet, as of January 2024, aid agencies had received only 40 percent of the resources required to deliver much-needed assistance.
In 2002, the UN had appealed for US$2.27 billion in funding for the Somalia crisis. As of December 2022, only $1.29 billion had been received from donors (57 percent coverage), a shortfall of nearly $1 billion.
The security situation
Insecurity persists in Somalia, with attacks by extremist group Al-Shabab (AS) and fighting in the Laascaanood (Las Anod) region taking a heavy toll on civilians.
Widespread violence and population displacement have adversely affected Somalia since 1991. The current conflict - primarily related to attacks of the Al-Shabab (AS) militia and subsequent military operations, as well as intercommunal violence - continues to restrict economic activities while contributing to further population displacement and food insecurity.
The formation of a new government and the peaceful transfer of power to the president in May 2022 have brought limited political stability to the country. After years of state failure and conflict, Somalis are embarking on a more promising path to the future. The creation of regional states, the rebuilding of institutions, and the positive resumption of cooperation with the international community point to a brighter future for the country.
However, the security situation in Somalia remains extremely unstable. In addition to ongoing political and cross-community tensions, the renewed intensification of military operations against Al-Shabab will likely lead to increased displacement and impede humanitarian access. Attacks against civilians and aid workers also disrupt livelihoods and hinder humanitarian response activities, particularly in areas that lack established local authorities and where Al-Shabab militia is present.
UN agencies in the country say their efforts to reach those affected are limited, mainly by a lack of funding and access due to conflict in some areas. While Al-Shabab controls parts of southern Somalia, the recent escalation of the military offensive against the militia has significant humanitarian implications, including increased displacement and reprisal attacks. In 2022 and 2023, Somalia won significant victories against Al-Shabab, while the militant group has also increased its counterattacks. As of December 2023, more than 650,000 additional civilians have been displaced due to violent conflict within the country last year.
Fighting in Somalia's Sool region, in the breakaway Somaliland republic, escalated during 2023. Hundreds have been killed and at least 300,000 Somalis were forced to flee their homes due to the ongoing violence. More than 100,000 Somalis, mainly women and children, have fled to Ethiopia to escape violent clashes and insecurity in the area of Laascaanood. Some 200,000 people have been displaced inside Somalia from Laascaanood and its surrounding areas since fighting began early February.
Donations
Your donation for the Somalia emergency can help United Nations agencies, international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and their local partners to rapidly provide water, food, medicine, shelter and other aid to the people who need it most.
- UN Crisis Relief: Somalia crisis
https://crisisrelief.un.org/somalia-crisis - World Food Programme: Somalia emergency
https://www.wfp.org/emergencies/somalia-emergency
Currently, many NGOs and UN agencies are appealing for the Horn of Africa hunger crisis or the global hunger crisis. You may also consider making an unearmarked donation or a broader earmarked donation.
- UNHCR: Horn of Africa drought emergency
https://donate.unhcr.org/int/en/horn-africa-drought-emergency - Save the Children US: Horn of Africa Climate Crisis https://www.savethechildren.org/us/what-we-do/emergency-response/horn-of-africa-climate-crisis
- Oxfam International: Climate and food crisis in East and Central Africa
https://www.oxfam.org/en/what-we-do/emergencies/climate-and-food-crisis-east-and-central-africa - Plan International: Hunger Crisis Appeal
https://plan-international.org/emergencies/hunger-crisis-appeal/ - Action Against Hunger: Overall Emergency Relief 2022
https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/donate/emergency-relief-response
To find other organizations to which you can donate, visit: Humanitarian Crisis Relief, Refugees and IDPs, Children in Need, Hunger and Food Insecurity, Medical Humanitarian Aid, Vulnerable Groups, Faith-Based Humanitarian Organizations, and Human Rights Organizations.
Further information
- ACAPS: Somalia Complex crisis
https://www.acaps.org/country/somalia/crisis/complex-crisis - USA for UNHCR: Somalia Refugee Crisis Explained
https://www.unrefugees.org/news/somalia-refugee-crisis-explained/ - International Crisis Group: Somalia
https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/horn-africa/somalia - UN OCHA: Somalia
https://www.unocha.org/somalia - European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations: Somalia
https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/where/africa/somalia_en - Human Rights Watch: World Report 2024: Somalia
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/somalia - Amnesty International: Report 2022/2023: Human rights in Somalia
https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/africa/east-africa-the-horn-and-great-lakes/somalia/report-somalia/
Last updated: 01/02/2024