EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA Somalia

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A woman holds her son and peers through a thicket in a camp for people displaced by drought and conflict, near Dhusamareb. An estimated 2 million people, or 27 per cent of all Somalis, require humanitarian assistance.

Children and women in crisis

Somalia has endured a complex socio-political environment for 20 years, alongside extreme poverty, food insecurity, conflict and instability. Despite a 25 per cent drop since 2009 in the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance (largely as a result of above-average 2010 rains), an estimated 2 million people – a staggering 27 per cent of the entire population – continue to require humanitarian assistance.¹ Only 29 per cent have access to clean water.² Somali women and children caught up in the country’s reduced circumstances are at increased risk of disease and undernutrition, routinely experience violations of their human rights and face limited access to essentials for a healthy life: health care, education, adequate food and safe drinking water.

Meeting urgent needs and building resilience in 2011

UNICEF is the largest service provider in key sectors in Somalia and leads three clusters: nutrition; education; and WASH; and also leads the child protection sub-cluster. UNICEF will continue to work with the Government, UN agencies and non-governmental partners in 2011 to meet the pressing needs of children and women who are among the 2 million people displaced or otherwise affected by conflict.

At least 54,600 children with severe acute malnutrition and 22,000 acutely malnourished pregnant and lactating women will receive treatment.
250 maternal and child-health clinics – reaching 2.5 million women and children – will have sufficient essential drugs, vaccines, basic equipment and training as well as stronger outreach health services for life-saving interventions.
Around 274,000 adults and 224,000 children will have access to safe water through rehabilitation and construction of water supplies.
60,000 girls and boys will have the opportunity to play and learn with textbooks in 200 schools or temporary learning centres set up to mitigate the psychosocial effects of conflict. Worn tents that serve as temporary learning centres will be transformed into traditionally constructed classrooms with mud walls and iron-sheeting roofs.
At least 200 vulnerable communities in the South Central Zone (with an estimated child population of 180,000) and displaced communities in the north of the country will be mobilized to prevent abuse and address child protection in emergencies.

Humanitarian funding at work: Highlights from 2010

In 2010, UNICEF estimated that US$66,020,900 wasneeded to fund its human-itarian work in Somalia. As of October 2010, a total of US$36,509,777 had been received, or 55 per cent of the 2010 request. In 2010 and despite the challenging context, UNICEF worked with partners to deliver a coordinated humanitarian response, to alleviate suffering and save lives. Funding enabled UNICEF to achieve a number of results, including the following: 1.5 million children under 5 years old and 1.3 million women of childbearing age received an essential package of life-saving health and nutrition services; 1.2 million people in emergency-affected areas were given access to safe water; more than 92,000 emergency-affected or displaced children were enrolled in school.

Funding requirements for 2011

To make significant strides in stabilizing the welfare of women and children in Somalia, particularly their nutritional and health status, access to safe water, and education and protection, UNICEF is requesting US$60,698,000 to carry out its planned activities. UNICEF has aligned its request with the 2011 Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) requirements.

More information on achievements of 2010 and the humanitarian action planned for Somalia in 2011 can be found at www.unicef.org/hac2011 or on the country office website at www.unicef.org/somalia.

¹ Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit-Somalia, ‘Food Security Post Gu 2010’, FSNAU, Nairobi, 27 September 2010, <www.fsnau.org/in-focus/food-security-post-gu-2010>, accessed 15 November 2010.
² Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, 2006.

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