CERF allocates $38 million for Somalia famine response

Nearly $38 million was made available from the CERF in July and August to address the famine in Somalia. Tens of thousands of people had died and hundreds of thousands more risked starvation. Continued armed conflict exacerbated the situation , and insecurity was a serious obstacle to providing humanitarian assistance.

The World Food Programme (WFP) was provided with $10 million to transport and distribute 18,000 metric tonnes of emergency food to an estimated 1.3 million drought and conflict-affected people in southern Somalia.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) received a further $10 million to provide supplementary food for 378,000 households for five months, in order to reduce severe acute malnutrition among 34,200 children under five. A further $4 million was allocated to UNICEF to treat nearly 70,000 moderately and severely malnourished children. $2 million was also allocated to UNICEF to provide safe water, and sanitation and hygiene support for more than 170,000 people.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) received $6 million to improve food availability by distributing seeds and fertiliser to some 300,000 people, as well as supporting communities to refurbish disused agricultural resources. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was provided with $1 million to work with communities to rehabilitate food and water sources.

The World Health Organization (WHO) used $2 million of CERF funding to provide vital emergency health services, targeting children, pregnant women, and border-based populations. UNICEF used a further $2 million from the CERF to provide primary health care and carry out immunisation campaigns in the worst-affected areas. WFP was also provided with $1 million to launch the Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) in southern Somalia, to improve access to the affected population for humanitarian supplies and personnel.