Assistingthe Somali
population

affected by thehumanitariancrisis of 2011

Overview of MSF activities in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia

MéDECINS SANS FRONTIèRES

This document gives an overview of MSF activities related to the humanitarian crisisin Somalia and neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia, which have received large numbersof Somali refugees throughout 2011. The data presented, though being provisional,
account for MSF’s medical activities and financial income and expenditures in thisregion, whereas the narrative sketches how MSF as a medical aid organisation
responded to this evolving crisis.

© Martina Bacigalupo

March, 2012.

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Trying to reach the most vulnerable of the Somalia crisis
Somalia’s humanitarian crisis continues to be one of the worst in the world. This year, Somalis have faced
the devastating effects of drought, compounding a long-lasting conflict and the absence of a functioning
healthcare system.
Throughout 2011 Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has run medical projects in up to 22 different
locations in south-central Somalia, the epicentre of the crisis, as well as large-scale programmes in thecamps for Somali refugees in Ethiopia and Kenya.
In the period from May to December 2011, MSF treated over 95,000 patients for malnutrition; treatedover 6,000 patients for measles and vaccinated almost 235,000 children against the disease. Within
its various healthcare structures MSF assisted in over 5,500 deliveries and provided over 450,000
consultations.

© Samuel Hauenstein Swan

However, despite intense negotiations with armed groups, access to the most affected regions insidesouth-central Somalia has remained difficult.

May – June 2011In May-June 2011, MSF medical teams started to deal with a worsening nutritional situation in southcentral Somalia. The numbers of malnourished children admitted to the MSF therapeutic feeding
programmes and MSF-supported healthcare facilities were steadily increasing.
The same period saw a sudden massive influx of refugees crossing the border from Somalia into Kenya
and Ethiopia. In the refugee camps of Dadaab (Kenya) and Dolo Ado (Ethiopia), the number ofmonthly new arrivals quickly rose from 10,000 to 30,000. Living conditions for the refugees arriving atthe overcrowded camps at Dadaab were deteriorating, as services were insufficient to respond to suchmassive influx. The health of refugees was worsening as they waited to be officially registered by theUNHCR and to receive timely assistance including food rations.1

July – August 2011
While continuing to negotiate a scale-up of its activities inside Somalia, MSF expanded its emergency
response programmes aimed at refugees arriving at the ever-expanding camps in Kenya and Ethiopia. In
July only, 48,000 new arrivals were registered at Dolo Ado camp, Ethiopia.2
As the frontline moved away from inner-city Mogadishu, MSF could significantly expand its existing activities
in the Somali capital, despite a still very volatile and insecure situation. MSF teams opened therapeutic feeding
programmes to care for malnourished children, and provided treatment for measles and cholera. Throughoutreach activities in the Somali capital, MSF carried out medical consultations, vaccinated children against
measles and distributed basic relief items to both the displaced and the local populations.
Outside Mogadishu, MSF extended its activities to provide medical care, food, water, shelter and cooking
items to 22,000 displaced Somalis in Guri El and, out of its longstanding project in Marere, to a camp for
displaced Somalis in nearby Jilib.
From the outset, the ongoing crisis had been depicted simplistically as a famine related to naturalcauses. MSF has emphasised that its humanitarian activities in the region were not only in response to adrought, but also to a chronic, complex and highly politicised conflict.3

September – October 2011
Throughout September and October 2011, an epidemic of measles quickly became the most daunting
challenge that MSF teams in the region faced, mainly in Mogadishu and in Guri El. Combined withmalnutrition, measles became the main killer of children in Somalia. Mass vaccinations against the1
2
3

“No Way In: The Biggest Refugee Camp in the World is Full” (briefing paper, 9 June 2011)“Somalia: People on the Move in Unseen Proportions” (22 July 2011 – web update)“A Reality Check on Somalia” (3 September 2011 - Opinion Editorial / The Guardian + follow-up coverage)

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to the needs of refugees in both Ethiopia and Kenya.
In Somalia itself, despite the rains ending the drought in most areas, the population remains dependent
on food and medical aid before being able to benefit from the first harvests in 2012.
In November, the start of the rainy season combined with the crowded and very unhygienic living
conditions in the camps for internally displaced Somalis, led to a steady increase of cholera patients.
As of mid-December, MSF teams had cared for 1,875 cholera patients throughout Somalia. In the Hodan
district of Mogadishu, over 100 patients per week had been admitted to the MSF cholera treatment
centre since the beginning of November.
MSF closed two projects in Mogadishu following the killing of two staff members, Philippe Havet and Dr.
Karel Keiluhu, on the 29th of December 2011. These projects included a 120 bed cholera treatment centre in
Hodan district and a 120 bed hospital for patients affected by measles and malnutrition in Wadajir.

© Yann Libessart/MSF

This closure halved the assistance MSF was providing in Mogadishu. Other MSF projects continued toprovide medical care in the other districts of the capital, as well as in 10 locations in the rest of Somalia.
However, the continuation of MSF work to assist Somalis in need of medical care is dependent upon
the respect for personnel, patients and medical facilities. Where these conditions prevail, MSF remains
committed to continue its activities in Somalia.

disease were urgently needed but teams were facing a continued ban in large parts of south-central
Somalia.4In October 2011, two MSF workers were abducted from the refugee camps of Dadaab, Kenya, while they
were providing humanitarian assistance to Somali refugees. MSF condemned the abduction of Blanca
Thiebaut and Montserrat Serra and called for the unconditional release of its two colleagues. As a resultof this attack, MSF temporarily suspended some of its medical activities in Dadaab except for ensuring
the continuation of life-saving medical activities in its 243-bed hospital. The abduction also limited
MSF’s capacity to respond to the growing needs of the population inside Somalia.
The subsequent military intervention by the Kenyan army, partly justified by the recent spate of
kidnappings of foreigners, led to further confusion between humanitarian organisations providing aid
and regional governments seeking to advance their strategic objectives.
The increasingly international nature of the conflict added to the general insecurity for civilians. The
military push – by Kenyan forces in south-central Somalia and by the Transitional Federal Government(TFG) forces north of Mogadishu – once forced the suspension of some field activities.5
Another unforeseen consequence of the military intervention occurred in the vicinity of a camp for
displaced people in Jilib, where an alleged aerial bombardment left dozens of people dead or injured.
MSF treated the vast majority of the injured and called on the warring parties to respect the safety ofcivilians caught up in conflict.6

November – December 2011
By November 2011, the continued displacement of civilians fleeing the spiralling violence in southcentral Somalia was putting increased pressure on aid providers, including MSF, to respond adequately
456“Fighting Measles in Somalia – Rising t a Difficult Challenge” (3 October 2011 – web update)“Somalia – Vaccination Campaign Suspended due to Fighting in Dayniile” (24 October 2011 – web update)“MSF Treats Wounded after Camp for Displaced is Hit by Bombardment in Southern Somalia” (30 October 2011 – press release + Update on 01 November 2011)

Conclusion
The needs of the Somali population are likely to remain acute. While Somalis continue to seek refuge
in safer parts within and outside Somalia, humanitarian access remains blocked in many parts of thecountry, limiting MSF’s efforts to scale up its activities such as mass vaccination campaigns in several
regions to combat the spread of communicable diseases such as measles and cholera.
MSF will remain actively engaged in providing an independent and impartial response to the huge
medical and humanitarian needs of the Somali people, wherever the security conditions allow. MSF will
also continue to direct all its efforts towards the safe release of its two abducted colleagues.

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Overview of MSF medical and nutrition activities
Horn of Africa – Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia
Week 20 to week 52, 2011 (mid-May to end-December)

Results
Nutrition
In total over the period, 79067 children were treated for severe acute malnutrition7 in the therapeutic
feeding centers (TFC), one fifth of them as inpatient (Table 1). The vast majority were less than 5 yearold. Trends in weekly admissions to the TFC is shown in the Figure 1.

Summary table
TotalIn addition, 30941 persons were admitted for the treatment of moderate acute malnutrition8 in thesupplementary feeding program (SFP) (mainly children but also pregnant and lactating women).

Admissions in the therapeutic feeding center

79067

Admissions in the supplementary feeding program

30941

Measles patients

7232

Number of direct admissions

Kenya

Ethiopia

Somalia

Total

Cholera patients

2572

Admissions at the outpatient department

539454

Hospitalizations (inpatient department)

26639

Deliveries in health facilities

6452

Therapeutic Feeding Center
Inpatient
Ambulatory
Total
Supplementary Feeding Program

3766
10933
14699
20135

2239
23786
26025
5637

9960
28383
38343
5169

15965
63102
79067
30941

Persons vaccinated against measles

255733

Beneficiaries of non-food items distributions

61340Table 1: Admissions in the nutrition programs, MSF Projects, Horn of Africa, week 20 to week 52, 2011

Source of the data
The following data were collected for 23 programs operating in the Horn of Africa for the Somali,
Kenyan and Ethiopian populations affected by the medical-nutrition emergency. These programs werelocated in Liben zone refugee camps (Ethiopia), in Turkana, Liboï and Dadaab refugee camps (Kenya),in South and Central Somalia, including Mogadishu. Data from other programs operating in Ethiopia,
Kenya or North Somalia were not included.
The data presented in this report cover week 20 to week 52, 2011.
Standardized indicators were compiled on a weekly basis for all the programs. Indicators were chosen
to follow the nutrition situation, the main diseases prone to epidemics, and the MSF activities. Standard
definitions were suggested but, in practice, were allowed to vary for each program.
The data compiled were routine data collected through the usual routine health information system of
each program and, therefore, rely on the quality of the data collection system of each program. It should
be kept in mind that some projects are conducted in remote control and that the accuracy/validity of
their data has not been crosschecked through field visits since months or years.

Figure 1. Weekly admissions in the inpatient and ambulatory therapeutic feeding center (ITFC and ATFC), MSF
programs, Horn of Africa, week 20 to week 52, 2011

Communicable diseases
In total over the period, 2572 patients have been treated for cholera and 7232 for measles (Table 2). The
trends of measles and cholera patients treated from week 20 to 52, per country, are shown in the Figures
2 and 3.
Table 2: Communicable diseases, MSF programs, Horn of Africa, week 20 to week 52, 2011
Number of new patients

Kenya

Ethiopia

Somalia

Total

Measles
Cholera

1467
476

152
05613
2096

7232
2572

7
Standard admission criteria for severe acute malnutrition: children with a weight-for-height index lower than -3 z-scores compared to the reference population (WHO standard), orchildren with a mid-upper arm circumference less than 115 mm, or children with bilateral edema.
8Standard admission criteria for moderate acute malnutrition: children with a weight-for-height index between -2 and -3 z-scores compared to the reference population (WHOstandard), or children with a mid-upper arm circumference between 115 and less than 125 mm.

78Figure 2. Number of new measles patients, per week and per country, MSF programs, Horn of Africa,
week 20 to week 52, 2011

© Brendan Bannon

MéDECINS SANS FRONTIèRES

Medical activities
The consultations at the outpatient departments totaled 539454 patients. About 2 fifths of them wereaged less than 5 year-old. In total, 26639 patients were hospitalized, half of them being aged less than 5year-old. In addition, 6452 women delivered in medical facilities.
Table 3: Admissions to the outpatient and inpatient departments and deliveries, MSF programs, Horn of Africa, week
20 to week 52, 2011
Outpatient department

Kenya

Ethiopia

Somalia

Total

15063461406

327414539454Inpatients department

11744

991

13904

26639

Deliveries in health facilities

1942

124

4386

6452

Interventions
MSF teams have vaccinated 255733 people aged 6 months to 30 years against measles (Table 4). Total
beneficiaries of food and non-food items distributions are shown in Table 4.
Table 4: Measles vaccinations, food and non-food items distributions, MSF programs, Horn of Africa, week 20 to week52, 2011

Figure 3. Number of new cholera patients, per week and per country, MSF programs, Horn of Africa,
week 20 to week 52, 2011

Kenya

Ethiopia

Somalia

Total

Children vaccinated against measles in health structures
Persons vaccinated against measles through vaccination
campaigns
Beneficiaries of non-food items distributions

25587

36349

36412

98348

31820

16875

1086901573850061340

61340

Households beneficiaries of general food distribution0066246624Children beneficiaries of selective food distribution

7012

01885025862

910Somalia Accountability Report
MSF has received impressive financial support through 2011 to respond to the humanitarian needs ofthe people of Somalia. By the end of December, we had received almost P 47 million specifically for themedical-nutritional crisis in Somalia and support to Somali refugees in Ethiopia and Kenya.
Approximately 85 per cent of this support, or just over P 40 million, came from thousands of private
donors around the world. Somalia is a country in conflict and thus, in order to avoid any politicalinterference to the way we are delivering aid, MSF is not accepting funds from any government for its
work inside the country.
Our support to refugees from Somalia in the camps in Kenya and Ethiopia received P 7 million in public
institutional funds.
Sources financial support Somalia crisis

85% (€ 40 million): income from private donors© Brendan Bannon

15% (€ 7 million): income from private institutional donors

Around 38 per cent of the money has been spent on medical and nutritional materials, including
therapeutic food, medicines and vaccines. Logistics and water and sanitation support account for 9 percent, while almost 18 per cent of the expenses accounts for transport.
In the period from April until and including December, MSF spent P 45 million of the funds received toassist the people of Somalia. We estimate that the remaining P 2 million will be spent before the end of
the first quarter of 2012.
Approximately 50 per cent of the spending has been for projects inside Somalia. Our work for Somali
refugees in Kenya accounts for 22 per cent of the spending and 28 per cent for those who fled toEthiopia.
Division expenditures per country April-December 2011

With more than 4,200 staff working to support the Somali people, employment-related costs take up
around 31 per cent of all spending.
Expenditures Somalia crisis April-December 2011

Medical-Nutritional (38%)
Staff (31%)

50% spent on emergency aid in Somalia
28% spent on emergency aid to Somali refugees in Ethiopia
22% spent on emergency aid to Somali refugees in Kenya

Transport (18%)
Logistics-watsan (9%)
Other (4%)

Over 96 percent of our staff are from Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia.

Footnotes:- The reporting period for funds received covers January through December and includes some restricted funding received before MSF started asking the public for donations for thismedical-nutritional crisis. The reporting period for funds spent covers April through December.
- The financial figures contained in this report are provisional and will be confirmed once we close our accounting books.

© Brendan Bannon

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Cover © Brendan Bannon

www.msf.org