UNHCR Operation highlights
Somalia is the country generating the third highest number of refugees in the world, after Afghanistan and Iraq.
Somali people are facing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world today. One in three Somalis is in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and one in every three children living in the South-Central region is malnourished.
UNHCR leads protection and emergency relief interventions targeting 700,000 IDPs out of a total IDP population estimated between 1.1 and 1.36 million and over 2,300 refugees in Somalia.
General Situation
Somalia generates the third highest number of refugees in the world (after Afghanistan and Iraq). As at 19th February 2013, there were 1,025,346 Somali refugees in the region, mainly hosted in Kenya, Yemen, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Tanzania and Uganda and almost 1.36 million Somalis internally displaced within the country, settled mainly in the South-Central region.
5,613 Somalis have so far sought refuge in neighboring countries in 2013. As of 26th February 2013, 4,700 people were displaced while in January 2013 alone, another 10,000 were displaced, mainly in South Central Somalia.
Between 1st Nov and 1st Feb 2013, displacements were mainly recorded in South Central with approximately 17,000 out of a total 19,000 displacements recorded in all three zones, citing cross border movement, IDP temporary return and insecurity as their major reasons for displacement.
1 million Somalis still remain food insecure, unable to meet basic food needs without assistance, according to the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU). Another 1.7 million people are at risk of falling back into crisis without continued support to meet basic needs and build up their livelihoods.
With an elected president, Hassan SheikhMohamud, and a 275-member parliament, Somalia is set to reestablish government functions and institutions, with numerous reports of its diaspora population coming back home to contribute to similar activities. Somalia fell into the hands of armed opposition groups after the fall of the Siad Barre regime, and was divided along clan lines.
Most of Somalia continues to be in security level 5 (high), with some parts of Mogadishu and other areas on level 6 (extreme). Humanitarian access still remains a challenge in certain pockets especially in the South Central Zone and hampers delivery of life-saving activities. Distribution of emergency / temporary shelter materials and other relief items and protection through livelihood interventions are among the activities carried out by UNHCR to support IDPs.
In January 2013, UNHCR distributed 4,160 emergency assistance packages (EAPs) to 24,960 individuals in Mogadishu and other districts within southern Somalia as well as 27 non-food items (NFI) kits to households affected by a fire outbreak in Bosaso. These EAPs include kitchen sets, sleeping mats and plastic sheeting that would aid these vulnerable populations in their time of need.