MOGADISHU, Somalia – UN humanitarians said on Wednesday 43 million U.S. dollars has been allocated to aid Somalia in fighting the effects of drought, mainly food insecurity.
The Somalia Humanitarian Fund (SHF) put 25 million U.S. dollars toward the campaign, and the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) allocated 18 million dollars for famine prevention efforts, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. The allocations support the 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Somalia.
OCHA said that improvements in the food security situation and recent rains helped avert famine. However, needs remain high, with 8.25 million people, about half the population, still requiring humanitarian assistance and protection.
Prolonged and extreme conditions continue to exacerbate needs and protection risks, including for the most vulnerable, the office said, adding that more than 3.2 million people were displaced.
“Recovery from a drought of this magnitude will take years,” OCHA said.
The humanitarians said that the SHF and CERF allocations aim to strengthen the response in areas where the risk of famine persists and minimize further displacements by targeting hard-to-access rural locations in the Bay, Lower and Middle Shabelle regions. The SHF continues to champion localization, directly allocating 71 percent of the SHF 2023 funding to local organizations.
OCHA said the CERF grant complements the SHF allocation by mitigating the impact of drought and reducing associated protection risks through scaled-up recovery efforts in drought hot-spot locations.
“This allocation is a testament to our commitment to supporting the people of Somalia,” said George Conway, deputy special representative of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Conway also is the temporary resident and humanitarian coordinator for Somalia. “We need to do more, hence our continued appeal to our donors and partners.”
The humanitarian office said the 2023 HRP requires 2.6 billion U.S. dollars to respond to the needs of 7.6 million of the most vulnerable people in Somalia. Only 30.5 percent was received by mid-year. Additional funds are urgently needed to deliver crucial assistance.
