Somalia has remained on a strong economic reform path despite the various global and exogenous shocks that have continued to buffet the economy. Recurrent climate-related shocks, such as cycles of droughts, floods, locusts’ infestation, higher international commodity prices, as well as increased insecurity and conflict, have interrupted the country’s growth …
UNHCR is mandated to provide protection, assistance and solutions for refugees, asylum-seekers, returnees, stateless persons, internally displaced people and others of concern to the Office, of whom there were 86.5 million at the end of 2019. With COVID-19 sweeping the globe, more than 20 million people worldwide are confirmed to …
Within a month (August to September) 2020, more than 1.21 million people in 12 different countries have been affected by floods across Africa and many other countries are currently experiencing more widespread rainfall than usual in the long rain season leading to transboundary flooding in several areas. Countries most affected …
Humanitarian food assistance needs are high across Somalia, where Stressed (IPC Phase 2) and Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes remain widespread. An estimated 3.5 million people in rural livelihood zones, urban areas, and IDP settlements need food assistance. In July, food assistance reached only 55 percent of the population in …
Coinciding with COVID-19, an upsurge of desert locusts is taking place in the Horn of Africa, Arabian Peninsula and Southwest Asia, with risk of spreading to the Sahel region of Africa if it is not stopped by July. The desert locust is the world's most dangerous migratory pest. A one-square-kilometer …
The data and the analyses in this report were prepared before the global crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic and do not account for its impact on vulnerable people in food-crisis situations. In 2019, 135 million people faced acute food insecurity that required urgent action (IPC/CH Phase 3 or above) in …
The March to May (MAM) rainfall period was one of the wettest the region has seen since 1981, following an already record wet 2019 October to December (OND) rainfall period. The early onset of rains and above-average rainfall since February promoted land preparation and planting activities for the MAM season …
At the beginning of April, the 2020 edition of the Global Report on Food Crises was issued, presenting a stark warning for the future. In 2019 – prior to the COVID-19 pandemic – 135 million people experienced “crisis” and worse levels of acute food insecurity. A further 183 million were …
Today, nearly 55 million people in the Arab States, 13.2 percent of the population, are hungry and the situation is particularly worrying in countries affected by conflicts and violence: Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, and Yemen. Displacements and forced migration are widespread in the region, especially among the growing youth …
A new report launched today by Somalia—titled the Somalia Health and Demographic Survey (SHDS) Report 2020—offers the country’s decision makers and stakeholders vital information on the health and lives of Somali women of childbearing ages and children. By turning the voices of Somalis from more than 100,000 urban and rural …
Roughly half of all Somali households rely on remittances to cover basic needs such as food, water and basic health care. According to Somali money transfer operators (MTOs), remittances have already declined substantially since the onset of COVID-19 due to economic pressures on members of the Somali diaspora. This is …
When mobility drivers are scrutinised and climate change is found to play a role in movement, it remains difficult to determine the extent of its influence. Misleading claims about mass migration induced by climate change continue to surface in both academia and policy. There are arguments to indicate that research …
The worst desert locust outbreak in decades is underway in the Greater Horn of Africa, where tens of thousands of hectares of cropland and pasture have been damaged in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia with potentially severe consequences for agriculture-based livelihoods in contexts where food security is already fragile.
In conflict and disaster, children suffer first and suffer most. Today, one in four of the world’s children lives in a conflict or disaster zone — a fact that should shake each of us to our core. All of these children face an uncertain future. Around the world, more than …
With nearly 71 million refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs), and asylum-seekers as of 2018, forced displacement is a developing world crisis. However, evidence-based planning for IDPs is challenging because of a lack of data on their numbers, locations and socioeconomic characteristics. A new World Bank study aims to help close …
Climate change poses serious challenges to current and future peacebuilding missions, according to a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) which studies the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). Climate change amplifies existing challenges and strengthens radical groups. At the same time, climate change forces …
More than 15 million people are in need of aid as drought hits parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia again. Yet lessons from the devastating droughts of 2011 and 2017 are being ignored, putting lives at risk, warned Oxfam. The international agency is calling on governments to support the aid …
Existing WHO estimates of the prevalence of mental disorders in emergency settings are more than a decade old and do not reflect modern methods to gather existing data and derive estimates. The researchers sought to update WHO estimates for the prevalence of mental disorders in conflict-affected settings and calculate the …
If current trends are not checked, there will be more than 70 million babies born to teenage girls globally between now and 2030, a new report by Save the Children has found. Nigeria is expected to overtake India as the country with the largest burden of adolescent births. The 2019 …
Mosques in the self-declared republic of Somaliland have been urged to turn down, or turn off, their loudspeakers for overnight prayers. The director general of the ministry of religious affairs, Aadan Abdillahi Abdalle, told the BBC Somali service that imams and mosque authorities had been urged to respect their neighbours …
A picture of past drought which saw several animals die due to lack of pasture and water The United Nations now say that close to 2 million people are at risk f starvation in Somalia. Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General said .1.7 million people are expected to face …
