Eleven-year-old Dahir weaves his way between a growing cluster of homemade huts on the edge of Baidoa, heading to a tin-roofed school building near the main road. He is wearing his only shirt and trousers, and clutching his one other possession – a new schoolbook. The school’s sole teacher, Abdullah …
Read More »Somalia: 4 lessons from past experience of dealing with famine
Since 1990 the world’s famines have been classified as small – with the glaring exceptions of Somalia in 1991-92 and 2010-12. Now the UN’s World Food Programme says that nearly seven million Somalis face not being able to find enough food in the last months of 2022. Baidoa and Burhakaba …
Read More »Fartun Adan & her daughter Ilwad Elman win 2022 Right Livelihood Award
The Swedish-based NGO Right Livelihood on Thursday named Adan, Elman, and Kamugisha winners of the 2022 Right Livelihood Award for their courage in promoting human rights and peace. Adan and Elman are specifically awarded for promoting peace, demilitarization and human rights in Somalia in the face of terrorism and gender-based …
Read More »Catastrophic hunger levels leave 500K children at risk of dying in Somalia
A humanitarian catastrophe is imminent in Somalia and the Horn of Africa. That’s the joint assessment of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), following months of food security assessments. The number of people in dire need …
Read More »From Dadaab to Mogadishu: More refugees return to rebuild Somalia
In November 2016, when Abdullahi Ali Farah landed in the Somali port city of Kismayo after 22 years of living as a refugee in northeastern Kenya, he was afraid and hopeful at the same time. “I was excited about the freedom and prospect of finally returning to my motherland but …
Read More »In Somalia, women and children are bearing the brunt of the HoA drought
Thirst and hunger are driving people to make perilous journeys on foot to reach safety They buried five-year-old Mohamed in a shallow grave, in a place unknown, where his family had briefly stopped to rest. “We had no food, no water … he was malnourished and exhausted and he didn’t …
Read More »UN: From Sahel to Horn of Africa, millions face severe food insecurity
GENEVA — The UN said on Friday that up to 18 million people in Africa’s Sahel region will face severe food insecurity over the next three months, the highest number since 2014, while there was also a warning about drought-induced food scarcity extending to East Africa as well. Jens Laerke, …
Read More »UN warns of worsening drought in Horn of Africa region in four decades
NAIROBI — The United Nations top relief official has warned of the worsening drought in the Horn of Africa (HoA) region which has already affected more than 18 million people across Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. Martin Griffiths, under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator who concluded a two-day visit …
Read More »Somalia at brink of famine
MOGADISHU — Somalia is facing its most severe drought in over three decades, with more than half of the population in dire need of food and water. The U.N. said earlier this month that parts of the country could soon plunge into famine. Dead livestock, emaciated children and a constant call …
Read More »Drought causes starvation and livestock deaths in Somalia
MOGADISHU — Besides causing loss of human lives, severe drought in Somalia has affected over half a million livestock population and has led to large-scale displacements in the region. Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Adan Mohumed Farah, country adviser for the UK-based humanitarian group Save the Children, said the situation was …
Read More »
Somali Observatory for Humanitarian Affairs The Voice of Reality.. The Eye of Humanitarian Truth in Somalia