By Winnie Kamau
Over 900 cases of Cholera and other communicable diseases have been reported this year in Somalia World Health Organization (WHO).
This comes amidst international Humanitarian Organizations calling for urgent assistance to mitigate the ongoing drought situation that has left over 6.2 million people in need of urgent food assistance.
The joint Humanitarian response is requesting for over 863 Million USD for the total Humanitarian needs for the country. The Humanitarian response is currently requesting for 300 Million USD to assist with the Drought response.
Somalia Humanitarian Coordinator Peter de Clerq sounded the joint emergency plea. “We must act now to avert famine. The money that is currently at hand is 35 Million USD.” Adding “The situation is getting worse, the number of people in need of assistance has increased to over 6.2 million that is over half of the population.”
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Somalia pits a rise in the number of people in need of critical assistance from 1.2 million to 3 million people in their February report. FAO Representative to Somalia, Richard Trenchard says “The whole region including Somalia has been hit by a punishing drought. What we have right now is a big famine alert .”
The severe drought gripping most parts of Somalia is pegged on poor rainfall and low river water levels which have led to near total crop failure especially in the rural parts.
The humanitarian experts are pointing to failing systems in the country as labor prices are collapsing, a sharp increase in food prices. Livestock deaths and malnutrition cases are also on the rise.
Somalia’s population is estimated at over 11 million people. The worst famine ever experienced in the Horn of Africa was in 2011 which led to the loss of over 250,000 people especially in the Lower Shabelle and Bakool areas. This number translated to the death of a quarter of the population according to a report by Famine Early Warning Systems and Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FEWSNET&FSNAU).
The current drought situation the humanitarian experts have warned has affected a much larger part of the country and if no mitigation measures are put in place urgently will escalate into a famine by April this year. Clerq explains “The drought is everywhere both in Somalia and Puntland, it is referred by the locals as Xima meaning the warm that makes everyone equal because it is everywhere .”
Concerns are rising on the high number of migration by pastoralists towards Puntland-Somaliland and West of Somalia with fear of some looking for pastures in parts of Ethiopian and Kenyan borders. This drought comes amidst calls for the closure of the largest refugee camp in Africa, Dadaab by May 2017 by the Kenyan Government.
Dr. Ghulam Popal, WHO Representative for Somalia noted that the urgency to combat with the communicable diseases as part of drought mitigation measures “We are conducting oral cholera vaccination campaign to cover all the hotspots of drought areas” But all this is determinant in how responsive the world will be to fill up the 863 Million USD needed as an emergency responsive measure.
Many schools in the rural areas have been closed due to the current situation. All hope is not lost as great mobilization has been launched by the Somali Government and the Diasporans are sending money in huge amounts back home responding to the crisis, the Humanitarians experts say.
