CO-Somalia  Appeal Drought Response 2021 Somalia is currently experiencing one of the worst droughts which is projected to be the worst humanitarian crisis in the region. The drought conditions have triggered water shortages and displacements, increasing overall food insecurity and disease outbreaks across the country. The deteriorating drought situation has compounded vulnerabilities at a time when the number of people who need humanitarian assistance and protection in Somalia is forecast to rise by 30 per cent -  from 5.9 M to 7.7 M in 2022. Food insecurity continues to deteriorate with an estimated 3.5 M people who are food insecure across the country (IPC Phase 3) and Emergency (IPC Phase 4), according to FSNAU. Two consecutive seasons of below-average rainfall in late 2020 and early 2021 have further heightening food insecurity.  Across the country, people are suffering from damaged and depleted crops, pasture and livestock. Drought conditions in northern and central Somalia in early 2021 resulted in livestock losses and further increased household spending on animal feed and water .

Prolonged water shortages threaten the lives of humans and livestock.  Many communities are struggling with water shortages since June, with Jubaland in the South being the hardest hit state. The 2022 HNO highlights that an estimated 6.4 M people (40% of the population) need emergency life-saving WASH assistance: 3.5 M will need safe drinking water, 5.1 M sanitation services, and 6.4 M hygiene supplies. The high humanitarian WASH needs in Somalia are drivenby seasonal floods, severe drought conditions, acute water diarrhea/cholera outbreaks and protracted crises, further exacerbated by COVID-19. In addition, flash floods contribute to the severity of needs among riverine communities in the South, damaging 82 % of the water and sanitation infrastructure and triggering spikes in AWD/ cholera cases .
Oxfam’s gender and protection analyses (May 2021) across Somalia confirm that the existing humanitarian situation has led to heightened protection risks for women and girls, including gender-based violence, specifically rape or attempted rape, sexual assault, harassment from men, and even killings both within and outside their community; thereby further undermining women’s access to justice, resources and decision-making processes.
Shortages of water and firewood in many parts of the country have resulted in women and girls having to walk long distances to access water and firewood, and girls asked to support the increased daily unpaid care work, resulting in more girls dropping out of school. Protection risks are further exacerbated by forced evictions/displacement, forced recruitment of men into armed groups and discrimination of minorities and marginalized groups.

Authorities in Puntland declared on 5 October a State of Emergency as the severe dry conditions since January have resulted in critical water shortages across the state. In an Appeal issued on 11 November, Puntland authorities reported that more than 1.1 M people in Puntland have been affected byintense drought conditions for more than one year and need water and food. The Federal Government of Somalia and regional authorities have declared a state of humanitarian emergency through a communique that was issues on the 10th of November 2021 .  Humanitarian actors are urged to increase emergency support in alleviating suffering and preventing the situation from deteriorating further, whilst at the same time advocating for longer-term investment to reduce risk and vulnerability to climatic shocks. Itis against this background that Oxfam Somalia and partners plan to rapidly scale up our response – to mitigate the effects of the drought whilst at the same time strengthening peoples’ resilience to the compounding effects of the protracted crisis.

Oxfam ProposedResponse Strategy

Providing lifesaving assistance to vulnerable communities through integrated WASH, EFSVL <(>&<)> Protection services in Somaliland, South Central Somalia and Puntland, focusing on a two-pronged approach:

1) To provide urgentlife-saving, life-sustaining and dignity upholding assistance in response to food insecurity, water shortage, disease outbreak and protection risks caused by worsening drought
2) Investing in resilience and recovery interventions to work with communities,government institutions and other key stakeholders towards more sustainable and durable solutions to the cyclical disasters in Somalia.
Oxfam is committed to advocate and strengthen the localization agenda in Somalia. In line with the Oxfam Country Strategy for Somalia, 60% of the response will be implemented with partners. Oxfam acknowledges that Somalia is facing a multifaceted and interlinked humanitarian and development crisis, which we propose to tackle by increasingly addressing the humanitarian-development Nexus, with partners on the forefront– both in response implementation and advocacy. Grant proposals are and will continue to be developed with partners, highlighting partners’ development needs and lead roles as first responders. The implementation will focus on Oxfam’s Triple Nexus and Rights, Resilience and Response approaches. The response will aim to ensure that it brings together initiatives on peace and conflict resolution to address some of the underlying causes of conflict in the communities. Working with women and youth will be a key part of the response to empower them to advocate for their rights, inclusion and ensure they become a key part of the peace-building and decision-making platforms. Oxfam will further strengthen the resilience and capacity to adapt to recurring shocks among communities, through establishment of Disaster Risk Management committees, investment in community early warning systems as well as ensuring local authorities and institutions are capacitated to bethe first responders during a crisis.
Oxfam has over the last year increased its capacity in terms of geographical spread with offices in Somaliland, Puntland and the latest expansion to South Central as well as excellent budget burn rates. The Somalia team has managed to ensure donor compliance which has resulted in clean audits and improved donor relations over the years. Oxfam has a strong commitment to manage risks through robust risk management systems, capacity building of staff and partners on issues around safe programming and safeguarding as well as ensuring an effective community feedback and accountability system at community level. The risk management system is regularly reviewed with new risks being updated. Security is also prioritized through regular security assessments and updates to staff and partners.