UN: 43 Mln USD To Mitigate Drought Impact in Somalia

On Wednesday, United Nations (UN) humanitarians said that 43 million U.S. dollars have been allocated to aid Somalia in fighting the effects of drought, mainly food insecurity.

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The UN has said that the allocations support the 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Somalia.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Somalia Humanitarian Fund (SHF) put 25 million U.S. dollars toward the campaign, and the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) allocated 18 million dollars for famine prevention efforts.

According to OCHA, improvements in the food security situation and recent rains helped avert famine. However, needs to remain high, with 8.25 million people, about half the population, still requiring humanitarian assistance and protection.

"Recovery from a drought of this magnitude will take years," OCHA said, while adding that prolonged and extreme conditions continue to exacerbate needs and protection risks, including for the most vulnerable, the office said, adding that more than 3.2 million people were displaced.

Several official statements from the humanitarians assure that the SHF and CERF allocations aim to strengthen the response in areas where the risk of famine persists and minimize further displacements by targeting hard-to-access rural locations in the Bay, Lower and Middle Shabelle regions.

Moreover, the SHF continues to champion localization, directly allocating 71 percent of the SHF 2023 funding to local organizations.

"This allocation is a testament to our commitment to supporting the people of Somalia," said George Conway, deputy special representative of UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

"We need to do more, hence our continued appeal to our donors and partners," Conway said.