AMOUNT: EUR 94 000 000
0. MAJOR CHANGE SINCE THE PREVIOUS VERSION OF THE HIP
In Somalia, the humanitarian situation today shows many parallels to the period ahead of the devastating 2011 drought that triggered a declaration of famine, which caused the excess deaths of 258 000 people the majority of them being children under five.
In April 2014, FSNAU (the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit) and humanitarian partners estimated that 857 000 people were still in acute food security crisis and emergency (IPC Phases 3 and 4) and would need urgent humanitarian assistance and livelihood protection support. A majority of these people (74%) were IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons). An additional 2 million people were classified as Stressed (IPC Phase 2) and in need of livelihood support in order to build their resilience against future shocks.
In July 2014, the Government of Somalia has declared a drought in six regions in South- Central Somalia, namely in Gedo, Bakool, Galgadud, Hiraan and Lower and Middle Shabelle. This confirms the 7th July the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit ( FSNAU) and the Somalia Water and Land Information Management (SWALIM) warnings highlighting that Somalia's food security crisis could worsen over the next months and expecting a severe water shortage. The preliminary results of the FSNAU post-Gu assessment to be issued beginning of September confirm an expected deterioration in large areas of the country.
Since the beginning of the year, several shocks have adversely impacted on the food security and nutrition situation:
• Displacement in parts of Southern Somalia following the military offensive against insurgents started in March (72 700 additional displacements since March according to UNHCR);
• Late and largely below normal Gu (April-June) rainfall in most parts of Somalia;
• A general sharp increase in cereal prices (due to low carryover stocks from the below average 2013/14 Deyr harvest and market expectations for a poor 2014 Gu harvest prospect);
• A review of the nutrition data collected from health facilities across Somalia for the January- April 2014 period showed variation, with persistence of Critical- Very Critical levels of acute malnutrition reported in South central regions and increasing trends of acute malnutrition reported in Northwest Agro pastorals, Hawd and Addun livelihoods in North and Central regions • Post Gu nutrition assessment shows that prevalence of acute malnutrition is critical in 6 out of 12 IDPs' settlement surveyed;
• Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) exceeding 15 % accompanied by a Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) rate of 5.5 % and a Crude Death Rate (CDR) of more than 1/10 000/day suggests an emergency situation exists among Mogadishu IDPs.
In the context of limited humanitarian funding, drought and conflicts resulted in looming shortfall in cereal production and increased cereal prices. These are the major factors affecting the food security situation (both rural and urban livelihoods) in the post-Gu 2014 period (Aug-December). The worst affected areas where deterioration is expected include: Bakool (agro-pastoral and urban); parts of agro-pastoral livelihood of Gedo and Middle Juba regions; Hiraan (agro-pastoral, riverine and urban); parts of Lower Shabelle region; Cowpea Belt of Central Somalia. A warning has been issued by the UN on 26 July concerning the alarming malnutrition rates in Mogadishu where aid agencies cannot meet the increasing needs of the 350 000 IDPs due to insufficient funds and restricted access.
Several early warning alerts have been issued by specialist technical bodies such as FSNAU, Fewsnet, SWALIM, by a coalition of 26 NGOs, and by OCHA in the last weeks and months.
Valerie Amos, UN Emergency Response Coordinator, briefed the UN Security Council on this worrying situation on 4th June, highlighting the reduction in donor funding in 2014 and asking for an immediate injection of US$60 million to address urgent food, nutrition and healthcare needs.
To date, US$299 million have been committed by donors for humanitarian assistance in Somalia in 2014, yet only US$269 million have been reported as received against the appeal of US$933 million, covering just 29% of funding needs. Within the shortfall, the clusters have therefore identified the most urgent life-saving priorities to be implemented in the next 3 months at a cost of US$60 million.
UNICEF has warned it may have to suspend its primary health care programme due to lack of funding. At the same time, an emergency response is needed to contain a new measles outbreak that could further increase mortality related to malnutrition. UNICEF is also running out of specialized nutrition products needed to ensure the survival of tens of thousands of malnourished children. Meanwhile, the month of April saw a sharp increase in admissions to nutrition treatment programmes.
