Somalia

From Goats to Grade 1

I first met eleven-year-old Mariam Abdulahi at Waranley village while she was looking after her family’s herd of goats. She told me she had never been to school, but her dream was to be a student. She said if a school was set up in her village she would stop herding goats and join immediately.

Several months passed and the terrible drought forced thousands to leave their homes. I returned to the village on a routine trip, but I assumed that Mariam – like so many others – had been forced to leave the village with her family in search of food and water.

Press releases

Three in ten mothers exclusively breastfeed for the first six months

European Union and UNICEF fighting cholera together in Somalia
Read in Somali >>

Expanding opportunities for Somalia’s youth as the Somali National University gets back its main campus
Read in Somali >>

No end in sight to Somalia’s drought-crisis

As the prolonged drought in Somalia continues to cause widespread suffering, illness and death, nutrition programmes supported by UNICEF and partners have successfully treated over 130,000 children suffering from life-threatening malnutrition.

The drought has left thousands of children weak due to lack of food and susceptible to the fast-spreading waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea and vomiting, which drain the body of nutrients and can lead to dehydration and severe acute malnutrition (SAM).

Feature stories

'For every child in Somalia, peace’ - Mohamed Ali Hagi, Health Officer, UNICEF Somalia

Somalia celebrates three polio free years

Launch of World Breastfeeding Week in Mogadishu

Emergency updates

UNICEF: Sitrep 11/2017: 31 July 2017

OCHA: Humanitarian Snapshot (as of 3 August 2017)

UNICEF: Mid-year Sitrep 10/2017: 1 January to 15 July 2017

UNICEF: Pre-famine briefing note - July 2017

OCHA: Drought response Situation Report No.15 (as of 24 July 2017)

Publications

UNICEF Somalia Annual Report 2016

Going on Tahriib - The causes and consequences of Somali youth migration to Europe

Situation Analysis of Children – A call for action to realize the rights of all Somali children