Mogadishu, Jan 21 (IANS ) The United Nations (UN) relief agency said Tuesday that 33.3 million US dollars have been allocated for life-saving humanitarian assistance in Somalia in 2024.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the funds allocated by the Somalia Humanitarian Fund (SHF) have focused on life-saving interventions targeted at underserved and hard-to-reach areas.
The OCHA said the funds have enabled 58 humanitarian partners to provide immediate response to predicted flooding, devastating drought conditions, and the need to enhance safety, security, and coordination.
The OCHA said the SHF had allocated funds through three reserve allocations and one standard allocation, complemented by three Central Emergency Response Fund allocations amounting to 10 million dollars that offered critical resources to respond to the cholera outbreak, provided urgent response to displacement, and helped mitigate the impact of projected below-average rains and La Nina conditions.
According to the OCHA, the 25-million-dollar standard allocation piloted the Integrated Response Framework and implemented multi-sectoral responses to prevent the deterioration in the severity of needs.
It added that the inclusion of women and girls and people with disabilities is ensured in every allocation, noting that 90 percent of the projects contribute in various ways to gender equality, Xinhua news agency reported.
The SHF is a multi-donor, country-based pooled fund, established to support the timely allocation and disbursement of donor resources to address the most urgent humanitarian needs.
Earlier this month, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced that it requires $254.7 million in net funding to enhance humanitarian assistance in Somalia until May, with roughly 5.98 million people forecast to need aid by then.
"The humanitarian situation remains critical due to anticipated poor rainfall, drier conditions, and persistent armed conflict," the WFP said in its humanitarian report, highlighting an urgent funding gap of $242.4 million for life-saving humanitarian relief and nutrition assistance.
The WFP said 4.4 million people in Somalia, nearly a quarter of the population, are facing acute food insecurity, while an additional 1.6 million children under five are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition from August 2024 to July 2025.
The WFP, along with other United Nations agencies, is urgently calling for additional funding to scale up humanitarian and resilience programmes to address the impacts of the anticipated drought in Somalia, which is exacerbated by funding shortfalls, unfavourable rainfall forecasts, ongoing security challenges, and rising food prices.
The WFP report noted that conflict caused 476,000 new internal displacements in 2024, representing 52 per cent of the total, with climate shocks accounting for most of the remaining displacements.
"These frequent displacements and recurring climate shocks continue to strain the coping capacities and resilience of millions of Somalis," it said.
Courtesy Media Group: IANS