Somalia

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says the number of children suffering dire drought conditions across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia has more than doubled in five months. According to a UNICEF statement Thursday, around 20.2 million children are now facing the threat of severe hunger, thirst and disease, compared to 10 million in July, as climate change, conflict, global inflation and grain shortages devastate the region.

The humanitarian organization International Rescue Committee (IRC) has released its annual Emergency Watchlist Wednesday, highlighting the 20 countries most at risk of deteriorating humanitarian crises in 2023.  This year, Somalia, Ethiopia and Afghanistan top the Watchlist, as East Africa faces the worst drought in decades and economic turmoil continues to compound needs in Afghanistan. 

The latest acute food insecurity report (IPC report) on Somalia issued Tuesday finds famine in that country has been narrowly averted for now due to the response efforts of humanitarian organizations and local communities to the crisis. While famine has not been officially declared in Somalia, the United Nations (UN) says the underlying crisis however has not improved and even more appalling outcomes are only temporarily averted.

Global solidarity is urgently needed to help vulnerable people in the Horn of Africa survive a rapidly unfolding humanitarian catastrophe, driven by the longest and most severe drought in recent history, United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) said in a joined statement on Monday. As the drought is set to run well into 2023, aid organizations must prepare now to continue their life-saving work in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya in response to extremely high humanitarian needs through to next year.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warns millions of people in the greater Horn of Africa will likely face a fifth consecutive season of insufficient rains. According to the United Nations agency the terrible long drought in the Horn of Africa is set to continue for another year, which will worsen the humanitarian crisis which is impacting millions of people who already have suffered the longest drought in 40 years.

A devastating drought in Somalia has reached unprecedented levels, as the one millionth person displaced by the drought was registered this week, according to displacement figures released jointly today by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). More than 755,000 people have been internally displaced in Somalia because of the severe drought this year, bringing the total figure to 1 million people since January 2021 when the drought began.

The German aid organization Welthungerhilfe warns that the number of people suffering from hunger is rising worldwide, and at the same time food and transport prices are exploding, so that the hunger crises are continuing to spread globally.  According to the non-governmental organization (NGO), the situation has become particularly severe in the Horn of Africa, where 17 million people currently do not have enough food to eat. Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya are experiencing the worst drought in 40 years.