Somalia Humanitarian Fund allocates US$17 million for famine prevention

The Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Mr. Adam Abdelmoula, launched a new allocation of US$17 million from the Somalia Humanitarian Fund (SHF) to provide immediate assistance to communities in areas at highest risk of famine.

“Famine is knocking on the door in Somalia and millions of people are at risk of starvation unless humanitarian assistance is scaled up and sustained,” said Mr. Abdelmoula.

“This allocation is critical because the number of people affected by drought has more than doubled since the beginning of 2022 and humanitarians urgently require additional funds to meet increased needs.The drought in Somalia has affected at least 7.8 million people, including more than one million people displaced from their homes in search of water, food, and pasture."

The $17 million allocation will fund immediate life-saving activities at a time when humanitarian operations are struggling to keep up with the scale, scope and severity of needs. The allocation will promote an area-based integrated response and focus on the worst-affected communities in Bay, Bakool and Mudug/Galmudug. Target districts will be prioritized based on needs, response gaps, partner presence, accessibility, and existing opportunities to leverage ongoing inter-sectoral interventions.

The allocation will complement the ongoing SHF reserve allocation of $9.5 million that was launched in July and supplement resources from the Central Emergency Response Fund that are providing unconditional cash transfers in tandem with emergency livelihood inputs, health, camp coordination and protection activities. The SHF’s comparative advantage in providing funds to national NGOs will ensure the presence of partners in key drought hotspot locations, advance localization and strengthen capacity building of local partners. The revised 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) requires $2.27 billion to respond to the needs of 7.6 million people in Somalia. Donors have contributed $1.07 billion (47 per cent), enabling partners to reach about 6.5 million people with some form of assistance, but more funds are required to keep up with increasing needs, as we are in the middle of a fifth consecutive failed rainy season with a possibility of a sixth at the beginning of next year.