New York City: The United Nations is seeking $2.6 billion to help 8 million people in Somalia as the country once again faces widespread famine as a result of overlapping crises including prolonged drought, conflict, insecurity, high food and water costs. is on the verge. , and mass displacement.
Although world attention has slowly returned to the country after similarly dire warnings last year, it has resulted in a lack of additional funding for the humanitarian response there.
Adam Abdelmoula, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, described the drought currently ravaging the African nation as “truly unprecedented” and said that more than 700,000 people are expected to experience devastating hunger.
“The 2011 famine that killed 360,000 people was the result of three consecutive failed rainy seasons,” he told Arab News. “Now, we’ve already sailed through five failed rainy seasons – and that should tell you where we are this time.
“Don’t listen to those who tell you this is the worst drought in 40 years; This is the worst drought in Somalia’s recorded history, period.
After the famine in 2011, the international community said “never again,” said Abdelmoula, adding, “If we really want to honor that promise, there is no time to lose. Every delay in aid costs lives to families in need.” or death case.
The 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan for Somalia, which was unveiled last week by the UN, its humanitarian partners and the Somali government, calls for donations to help the more than 8 million people in dire need of aid and protection for their survival Includes $2.6 billion appeal. This is almost half the country’s population, and women and children make up 80 percent of those in need.
Launching the appeal in the Somali capital Mogadishu, Abdelmoula said the country has 3.8 million internally displaced people, one of the highest numbers in the world. Most people were driven from their homes by conflict and climate shocks.
Such high levels of displacement exacerbate the already limited access to basic services, he added. For example, an estimated 8 million people lack access to safe water supply, sanitation and hygiene services at a time when disease outbreaks are on the rise compared to recent years.
Meanwhile, some 2 million Somali children under the age of five are likely to face severe malnutrition, with more than half a million likely to be severely malnourished. Such high rates of acute malnutrition increase the risk of illness and death from preventable causes such as cholera, measles, and acute diarrhea. Less than a third of people in drought-affected areas have access to medical care.
More than 6 million people are expected to face high levels of acute food insecurity by March this year, Abdelmoula said, and that number is expected to rise to 8.3 million between April and June amid a projected reduction in funding for humanitarian aid. hopefully.
Although humanitarian aid contributions helped prevent the famine from crossing last year’s threshold as predicted, Abdelmoula pointed out that “the difference between a declared famine and what millions of Somalis are already experiencing The difference is really meaningless.”
He added: “They are already starving. Children are dying of hunger. The underlying crisis has not ameliorated and the more dire consequences have only been temporarily averted.
“There is a strong possibility of famine from April to June this year, and certainly further, if humanitarian aid is not sustained and if the April to June rains are less than currently forecast.”
Abdelmoula said the 2022 humanitarian response plan for Somalia was only 67 percent funded.
He added, “And I hasten to say that 80 percent of that funding has come from a single donor country, and that is the United States.” “And the US has repeatedly made it clear that this was a one-off.”
The European Union provided 10 percent of the funding, and the rest of the world contributed the remaining 10 percent.
“With higher and more severe needs in 2023 and the continued risk of famine, we can and must do better,” Abdelmoula said.
Somalia is one of the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and is not equipped to deal with frequent droughts that have depleted the country’s water supply, resulting in crop failures resulting in agricultural production falling below 70 percent. has fallen. average.
Adelmoula said the Somalis affected by these successive droughts are “the human face of the global climate emergency”.
Salah Jama’a, deputy prime minister of Somalia’s federal government, said the country’s people are “paying the price for a climate emergency that they have done little to create.”
Getting aid to those most in need remains a tremendous challenge. Some areas are difficult to reach due to poor roads infrastructure. Others are under the control of al-Shabaab, an unrecognized, unpopular group with links to al-Qaeda. Humanitarian aid convoys are being attacked as a result of its deadly rebellion against the federal government.
In a vicious cycle, the increased scarcity of al-Shabaab’s activities means that more desperate young Somalis are vulnerable to recruitment by the group.
“Unfortunately, we have very limited access to areas controlled by al-Shabaab,” Abdelmoula told Arab News. “We do try to use proxies from time to time – community leaders, some community-based (NGOs) and so on – but it is very sporadic and very inconsistent.”
However, the Somali government recently regained control of some areas controlled by al-Shabaab and Abdelmoulah said: “We came close to getting a glimpse of the situation in the areas controlled by al-Shabaab, and those Compared to the communities we are working with, and compared to the caseload of humanitarian interventions, these people are in far worse shape than those already identified on the brink of famine in the (southern) Bay Area Was. “
According to the United Nations, it is estimated that around 700,000 people are living in areas that are under the control of al-Shabaab.
While humanitarian groups focus on life-saving activities to avert famine, UN officials stress the need to invest in livelihoods, resilience, infrastructure development, climate adaptation efforts and sustainable solutions for the internally displaced to help break free from a cycle. Chronically recurring humanitarian crisis and perpetual dependency.
“I have been saying consistently that what we see in Somalia is equally a development crisis, (not only) a humanitarian crisis, and that there are no humanitarian solutions to this protracted crisis – there are only developmental interventions that This endless dependence on humanitarian aid can weaken the country and its people, Abdelmoula said.
“And while most donors agree, we still have not seen the level of development assistance that will enable countries to respond to and intensify climate change, and enable communities to rely on themselves through income and employment.” Will enable – generational interventions. I have not seen that happen yet.”
He called for $2.6 billion in essential humanitarian aid, along with funding for “resilience, development and climate adaptation”.
“Humanitarian organisations, local communities and government officials have scaled up responses and reached 7.3 million people in 2022, but they need additional resources and access to those in need,” Abdelmoula said. Help.”