Humanitarian Financing Unit The annual post-Gu assessment, which was released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)-managed Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) in September, indicates that five million people face acute food insecurity across the country, with drought being a significant contributor.
Over 60 per cent of people requiring humanitarian assistance in 2017 are in urban areas. Some 320,000 children under age 5 are acutely malnourished, of which 50,000 are severely malnourished.
Severe drought and seasonal flooding also causes disease outbreaks, disruption to basic services, and further displacements.
Elevated protection risk exposure Protection concerns remain at the centre of the humanitarian crisis with a diverse range of protection issues in Somalia, including violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
At least 1.1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other vulnerable people, notably women, children, minorities, the disabled, child and female-headed households, survivors of violence, abuse and exploitation (particularly children), or older persons without support structures, are exposed to protection risks, such as forced evictions, discrimination based on status, child rights violations and child labour, family separations and gender-based violence (GBV), such as rape and sexual assault, due to conflict and protracted displacement as well as natural hazards. Settlements are often ungoverned, or governed by gatekeepers, overcrowded and displaced people have limited access to protective shelter, safe water and sanitation facilities as well as other basic needs. Forced evictions in the first half of 2016 caused the displacement of nearly 75,000 people. Protection needs are increasing, with further insecurity surrounding the political process in urban settings, along with localized clan conflict. An estimated 90,000 people were displaced by ongoing fighting in Gaalkacyo that began on 7 October 2016, 60 per cent of whom are IDPs suffering from secondary displacement.
Basic service delivery remains inconsistent and limited As a result of gaps in development programming and insufficient funding, poor access to basic services continue to strain humanitarian interventions and impact vulnerable people, particularly women and children, weakening coping capacities, causing recurrent disease outbreaks and persistently high levels of malnutrition and distances the prospects for durable solutions for the displaced. An estimated 3.3. million people need access to emergency health care and 3.3 million women, girls, boys and men require improved access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Access to education also continues to be inadequate, with only 30 per cent of children accessing learning opportunities countrywide, and 3 million children are still out of school, with the majority of them in southern and central Somalia.
As at 11 October 2016, since the end of 2014, a total of 31,226 Somali people have voluntarily returned from Kenya, with the majority returning to Baidoa, Kismayo, Luuq and Mogadishu. An additional 28,688 people have also returned from Yemen in the same period.
Furthermore, an estimated 6,000 individuals were displaced from Gashamo district in the Somali region of Ethiopia to Togdheer region, Somaliland, as a result of the June 2016 conflict. On arrival at their areas of origin or return, returning refugees will require shelter, either permanent or transitional, household items, protection and access to basic services, including education, health and WASH. While the humanitarian caseload is not substantial, information sharing regarding population movement and integration is challenging and requires strengthened coordination. Early indications show that the majority of returnees are moving to urban centres, increasing the burden on the already stretched and underfunded basic service delivery system.