Statement by the Humanitarian Coordinator on the presentation of the Post-Gu food and nutrition assessment

Thank you very much. My name is Peter de Clercq and I am the Humanitarian Coordinator here in Somalia.

Thank you very much to the representatives of Somali and international media for joining us today, for this briefing on this latest assessment, and also for a response on questions around the situation in Somalia more broadly.

Also, thanks of course also to our colleagues in FAO, and to the colleagues in the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit for this overview of the new food security findings in Somalia.

My first main message would be that the humanitarian situation remains very fragile. The crisis in Somalia is still among the largest, most protracted and most complex emergencies in the world today. The results of the assessment, that we just heard, indicate that the food and nutritional situation in Somalia continues to be of serious concern.

The number of people in need of food and nutrition assistance has in fact increased since the post-Deyr assessment released in January, from 3 million to approximately 3.1 million. Particularly worrying, as compared to six months ago when we saw a slight improvement, is that the number of people facing crisis or emergency has now increased by 17 per cent — from 731,000 to 855,000 persons.

The humanitarian situation remains very fragile, with critical levels of vulnerability. Thanks to sustained humanitarian assistance in Somalia to the most vulnerable, we have been able to prevent the situation from getting even worse, but more needs to be done to address underlying causes, and I will come to that in a moment.

The situation, as we heard in the presentation just now, among internally displaced people is particularly worrying. More than two thirds, or 68 per cent, of the people who are in crisis and emergency are internally displaced.

My second message is that the outlook is also not giving us cause for optimism. Malnutrition continues to be pervasive and the situation is currently getting worse. Malnutrition rates are in fact going to increase before the end of the year, due to below-average cereal production and poor rainfall in some pastoral and agro-pastoral areas, trade disruption of course in the most conflict-affected areas, and continued displacement, which I already referred to.

More than 210,000 children under five are acutely malnourished, of whom almost 40,000 are severely malnourished and therefore face a high risk of disease and death. In settlements for internally displaced persons, global acute malnutrition rates are consistently above the emergency threshold of 15 per cent.

The coming months will in fact be critical. The El Niño phenomenon is very likely to occur and affect us in the next few months. Floods could potentially affect more than 600,000 people in south-central Somalia and in Puntland. This could lead to further deterioration of the food security and nutritional situation and could also increase disease, loss of crops and property. In Somaliland, the El Niño phenomenon is likely to exacerbate drought conditions, also with severe impact on livelihoods.

Displaced persons, as I mentioned, are particularly vulnerable and exposed to exploitation and abuse. The IDPs are increasingly subjected to forced evictions, especially in urban areas such as Mogadishu.

The displacement of 20,000 civilians in areas affected by military offensives against Al-Shabaab since July, and the arrival of almost 30,000 people from Yemen since March, puts further burden on already stretched humanitarian resources in this country.

The humanitarian challenges, achievements and way forward... The volatile security situation has deteriorated since the beginning of the year, making the delivery of assistance to people in need even more dangerous. Attacks and threats against humanitarian personnel and property are unfortunately on the increase. In the first seven months of 2015 alone, 60 security incidents involving humanitarians led to the death of 7 humanitarian workers, injury of 14, abduction of 5 and arrest and detention of 30 humanitarian aid workers.

Humanitarian action has nevertheless been sustained and had a positive impact on the lives of millions of Somalis. In the first six months of 2015 alone, humanitarian partners reached 408,000 people with activities aimed at improving livelihoods, and 335,000 people with food assistance alone. About 116,000 children under the age of five were treated for acute malnutrition. About 895,000 Somalis have been reached with basic health services, while 538,000 were provided with temporary or sustainable access to safe water. Since the start of the year, 450,000 people benefited from hygiene promotion sessions or hygiene kits. And another piece of good news is that earlier this month, Somalia marked one year without any reported cases of polio thanks to massive vaccination campaigns. And all this is very encouraging news indeed.

Humanitarian donors have been very generous with Somalia for many many years. However, with the amount of resources we currently have available, which amount to just over 30 per cent of the actual requirements of the Humanitarian Response Plan, we will not be able to stabilize, let alone substantially reduce, the number of people in need. Further efforts are urgently needed to save lives and to build resilience, not least in view of the potential implications of the El Niño effect that is going to hit us very very soon.

My most important message today actually would be that while saving lives and livelihoods continues to be very important, we must simultaneously also address underlying causes. Most of the underlying causes of Somalia’s protracted crisis remain unresolved, and the sobering reality is that any shock could plunge Somalia into another devastating emergency.

We therefore need to ensure that the critical vulnerability levels are brought down, and that we reduce the risk of having far too many people slide back into crisis. Despite the huge costs and insecurity faced by humanitarian actors in Somalia, there is a clear determination by donors and by humanitarian actors alike to work in partnership with the authorities towards achieving these goals.

We must continue to sustain the humanitarian response to allow more people to get back on their feet and to be able to endure future shocks. This holds particularly true for Somalia’s 1.1 million displaced persons, who need to be better protected and supported in finding durable solutions. At the same time we need to give due attention to underlying causes that are prolonging the crisis in which they find themselves.

The Humanitarian Response Plan for 2015 focuses on life-saving assistance, improved protection and strengthening resilience of the most vulnerable to sustain future shocks. In the coming months and years, it will be critical to complement this work by better addressing the underlying causes of the crisis. With the establishment of the Federal Government and the ongoing implementation of the New Deal compact, there are new opportunities for stronger linkages between humanitarian programmes and developmental longer-term solutions. Only through greater complementarity between the Humanitarian Response Plan and the Somalia “New Deal” compact, we can help address some of these underlying causes of the humanitarian crisis.

We need your help to keep Somalia on the radar screen, and to giving a voice to those in need in Somalia. Your help is essential for allowing us to do everything we can, to prevent another humanitarian crisis that could undermine the gains made to put Somalia on the right track towards a more prosperous and peaceful future.

Thank you very much.

Mogadishu, 31 August 2015

For further information, please contact: Maurizio Giuliano, Public Information Officer a.i., OCHA Somalia, giuliano@un.org, +254-738-999985