As many as 70% of Somali families don’t have access to safe drinking water and sufficient food as this easternmost African country faces extreme drought, the humanitarian aid organization Save the Children has reported.
Under these circumstances, thousands of children in Somalia are forced to rely on emergency water trucks or unsafe sources that can cause diseases or even death. Many have had to leave their homes to look for other places where water is available.
A survey conducted by Save the Children of 632 households from eight different regions of the country shows that water scarcity caused by poor rainfall not only deprived people of drinking water but also led to livestock dying, crops failing, household incomes reducing, and a limited amount of nutritious food being available. The poll also found that half of the families questioned did not have enough food and 84% had reduced the number of daily meals.
Mohamud Mohamed Hassan, Country Director for Save the Children in Somalia, said: “Children are bearing the brunt of a growing climate crisis in Somalia and if urgent action is not taken, an alarming number will face hunger, school closures due to water shortages, displacement, and exploitation in the coming months.”
Other aid organizations joined the plea for help, noting that the humanitarian crisis in Somalia was swiftly deteriorating.
Mark Lowcock, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, has sanctioned up to US$7 million for rapid response and up to US$20 million for the activation of the Anticipatory Action framework. Meanwhile, the Somali government has appealed to donors for urgent funding to help about 2.7 million people. The government predicts further droughts in 2021 that will particularly affect the Gedo region of Jubbaland, South West State, Puntland, Galmudug, and Somaliland which may push millions of people into acute food insecurity and further impact those who are internally displaced.
In 2020, Somalia experienced floods that displaced over 650,000 people according to the UN Refugees Agency said. Subsequently, the country was hit by swarms of desert locusts followed by the most powerful cyclone in its history and it is now impacted by drought. The UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs has indicated that in 2020 alone 1.3 million people were internally displaced due to different reasons, climate shocks, and conflicts being amongst them.
