Somaliland: Nagaad Network – Press Release (03.04.2022)

United Nations: As impact of drought worsens, growing risk of famine in Somalia (28.03.2022)

The situation has deteriorated, with the current drought wiping out crop harvests and livestock dying due to a lack of water and pasture, depriving many pastoral communities of their only source of income.

LUUQ, Somalia, March 28, 2022 – Standing in front of his makeshift home in a camp for internally displaced people (IDP) in southern Somalia’s Luuq district, Ahmad Hassan Yarrow looks out towards what remains of the Juba River and shakes his head forlornly.

Of all the droughts I have experienced in my 70 years, I have not seen anything as severe as this,” he says as he contemplates the scenery before him.

Mr. Yarrow is one of hundreds of thousands of Somalis displaced by the country’s most recent and worsening drought, leaving their homes in the search for food, water and shelter.

The Luuq district, located in the Federal Member State of Jubaland’s Gedo region, is intersected by the Juba River. For more than three months now, the river’s waters have steadily dwindled, leaving only brown puddles.

As the water evaporated, so did the hopes of local communities – made up mainly of farmers and pastoralists – which rely on the river for their livelihoods. Under a searing sun, their crops wilted and their livestock died, and, like many other Somalis around the country, the communities came a step closer to starvation.

We lost everything in the drought,” says Salado Madeer Mursaal, a 28-year-old mother of one, who has also sought help at the IDP camp. “We need food, shelter, water and other basic human needs.”

Risk of famine’

With decades of conflict, recurrent climate shocks and disease outbreaks, including the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the humanitarian situation in Somalia was already grave. Even before the current drought, an estimated 7.7 million Somalis were in need of humanitarian assistance and protection this year – up 30 per cent from one year.

The situation has deteriorated, with the current drought wiping out crop harvests and livestock dying due to a lack of water and pasture, depriving many pastoral communities of their only source of income.

The country has seen three consecutive failed rainy seasons. The fourth, which is supposed to start in April and continue through June, is also projected to be below average. If that happens, then we are looking at a risk of famine,” says the Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Adam Abdelmoula.

The United Nations and its implementing partners have been heavily engaged in providing humanitarian support. In February, they collectively reached 1.6 million people with assistance, but, with Somalia’s federal authorities, they are calling for more funds to provide urgent humanitarian assistance.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Somalia is currently one of the most severely drought-impacted country in the Horn of Africa. Some 4.5 million Somalis are directly affected by the drought, and about 700,000 people have been displaced.

Children are in an especially vulnerable position.

“As we speak now, 1.4 million children under five years of age are severely malnourished, and if we don’t step up our intervention, it is projected that 330,000 of them will be on the brink of death from severe acute malnutrition. The situation cannot be more dire than that,” says Mr. Abdelmoula, who also serves as the UN Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Somalia and the UN Resident Coordinator.

So I call on all those who are able to contribute, including the Somali diaspora, the business community, the traditional and non-traditional donors, everyone, to act and to act now,” he adds.

In the 2022 Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan, the United Nations seeks nearly $1.5 billion to provide humanitarian assistance to 5.5 million of the country’s most vulnerable people, including 1.6 million IDPs, 3.9 million non-IDPs, and people with disabilities.

However, just about four per cent – $56.1 million – has been received so far.

Seeking safety and shelter

In Luuq’s camps, there is a palpable mix of relief and resignation among the displaced.

After walking for several days, Fatuma Madeer Mursaal and her family arrived at the Boyle IDP camp in Luuq. There, they joined the more than 4,000 people seeking aid.

We are farmers and we also had our livestock but all animals died in the drought. We have nothing left and we have come here for water, food, shelter and help,” says Ms. Mursaal, a 39-year-old mother of six.

The Boyle IDP camp is one of several camps which have sprung up around the country as desperate people move to locations where they hope they can access help.

It’s serious, and one of the biggest tragedies Somalia is facing today. The displaced communities have no shelter, water, medicine, or even food, and they depend on handouts. The drought has wiped out everything, and if the survivors don’t get urgent humanitarian assistance, they are likely to also die,” says the Luuq district’s local administrator, Commissioner Ali Kadiye Mohamed.

UN humanitarian agencies are working closely with implementing partners on the ground to alleviate the situation.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has been trucking water into camps such as the Boyle IDP camp, as well as constructing water tanks and pit latrines to help improve sanitation conditions.

At the Luuq District Hospital, funded in part by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN agency is working with an Irish charity agency, Trocaire, to treat, feed and stabilize children admitted with severe malnutrition. Local staff say they have seen a worsening of the situation.

In January, 62 malnourished children were admitted here. In February, the number rose to 100, and as of 21 March, the number stands at 114,” said the hospital’s chief nurse, Abdirahman Mohamed Kasim.

As soon as these children get to the hospital,” he continues, “we give them milk for primary and secondary stages of malnutrition, and, after their recovery, we transfer them to other feeding centres where they receive high energy biscuits and treatments for any further illnesses.”

Elsewhere in Luuq, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is implementing cash and food voucher programmes for vulnerable groups, and providing preventative and curative nutrition support to women and children. The agency is scaling up its interventions, aiming to support 2.5 million people across Somalia with food and nutrition relief in the first half of this year, but – like so many other UN agencies – it can only do so if it receives more funding; in this instance, some $203 million to close a funding gap.

Somaliland: Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation – Somaliland Delegation’s official visit to the United States of America (28.03.2022)

Somalia: Civil Society Election Situation Room (ESR) – Civil Society raises concerns over attack on electoral stakeholders and calls for a peaceful and timely conclusion to the lower house election process (27.03.2022)

Somalia: A U.S. Foreign Agent [Adidi] hired to run as a Presidential Candidate

In Mogadishu and in general the whole Somalia, this should shake the room. It is now news about the Presidential Candidate Hussen Mohammed Farah Adidi who is running a campaign on the party platform of Somalia National Alliance Party (SNAP).

While Mr. Adidi is registered as a Foreign Agent in FARA in the United States of America. An agent working for Situational Analysis Assessment Consulting Services (SAACS). Where he worked with them and they directed who was his close advisor and campaign manager. Which is R. Santana, who is a contractor with SAACS and will fulfil campaign obligations and work on behalf of Adidi.

Who is SAACS:

SAACS, is a d/b/a of Independent Intelligence Agency, LLC (IIA) a registered entity with the United States Federal Government as a private contracting entity, with The United States Department of Justice and its division the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) as Foreign Agents, and the United Nations as NGO’s (UN)” (…) “SAACS and IIA’s knowledge and work history involves the gathering of sensitive information, intelligence, news, and logistics within all of Central and the Horn of Africa including several countries throughout the Middle East. They were instrumental in providing sensitive information and intelligence to national and international government agencies and its officials from mid – 2009 through late – 2013. Our reputation and work is well known and respected and has proven to be very valuable and reliable to those we have served. Buy providing this type of sensitive information and intelligence it has aided countries within these regions to better serve it government and the people. SAACS and IIA has served in the past in several assignments with national and international government agencies/entities which has proven to be successful. Our level of work has brought relieve to those who we have served in the past. Those that have contracted with us SAACS and IIA have benefited from our expertise and services” (SAACS, a d/b/a of Independent Intelligence Agency, LLC – Home).

It is also in the foreign lobby registry of SAACS that they have been contracted to lobby in Washington D.C. for Ahmed Duale Gelle “Haal”, the President of Galmudug State. That contract was signed in 2017, which was between SAACS and Intelligence Agency LLC. To help with foreign and domestically. Create opportunities with Somalia, Uganda and Rwanda. For the betterment of the people and development of infrastructure. So, the corporation and firm has other connections to Somalia as well.

What is even more striking is how SAACS has been connected and writing to U.S. Ambassador Larry Andre and also to the United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the United States Yousef Al Otaibia. Both spreading the word and asking for them to be involved in supporting this particular candidate.

This has all been recognized by letters sent by Adidi and SAACS Representatives, which has leaked online. If this isn’t interfering in an election elsewhere than nothing is.

These sort of stories is just showing how a foreign agent is made ready to campaign and have a direct advisor. The person who is the Presidential Candidate has been registered since 2018 and stood as a candidate in 2020. Therefore, this was well planned… just like the idea of the other foreign agent as advisor and campaign manager. The whole project was controlled and had deliberate connection to the U.S. government.

In a letter to James Swan dated 6th April 2020 SAACs representative Santana wrote:

The people working alongside with the rest of the nation are instrumental in moving forward Mr. Aidid’s campaign once he is in country; however, the most important element is to acquire the proper aid and assistance required to achieve these goals and new political system within all of Somalia. The Somali people understand, as we do, that the current system has a huge financial backing which is due to the current influx of radical large sums of funding being used for the wrong reasons. This is an issue that the people of Somalia continue to address. These goals can be realized if all the people of Somalia can sustain themselves throughout the process of the elections and have the same financial force and advantage needed for Mr. Aidid’s campaign in the coming election. This can only be achieved if this is made possible. Reaching these goals of putting him in place can only be possible if aid is provided which in turn will facilitate a new leader and righteous administration for the people. They know that the fight is going to be tough; however, with the proper financial assistance and funding, they will prevail and have in place in 2021 a new political system and leader that will work for all Somalis” (SAACS, 06.04.2022).

While the SNAP party sounds like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or the Food Stamps programme, which is administered by the United States Department of Agriculture under the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). We don’t know if that was done with purpose either. However, it is unique that you can take it and find it that easily.

Somalia and Mogadishu needs to wake up. There is so much interference from various of parties. Not only the ones who is supporting Farmaajo with guns and military trained battalions. There is more than that… and this proves that. Clearly, there is more happening behind closed doors and hidden agreements.

Adidi is just one of them. God knows what the other candidates or high ranking officials are hiding. When a candidate does this and can get exposed. It also show the U.S. willingly to deceive and anoint puppets. Peace.

Annex:

Somalia: International humanitarian donors – Humanitarian donors visit drought stricken regions of Somalia (16.03.2022)

Somalia: UNHCR ramps up aid to thousands displaced by Somalia drought (11.03.2022)

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Boris Cheshirkov – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

GENEVA, Switzerland, March 11, 2022 – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is scaling up assistance to thousands of people displaced by severe drought in Somalia following three consecutive failed rainy seasons that have decimated crops and livestock.

People’s coping mechanisms have been eroded, forcing thousands to flee their homes in search of humanitarian assistance including food, shelter, and safe drinking water.

In the first week of March alone, more than 17,000 people in the country’s southern Bay region were internally displaced by the drought, joining tens of thousands of people similarly displaced across the country between January and February this year.

If the current trend holds, UNHCR estimates that in 2022 alone half a million Somalis will likely be displaced before the end of March.

The majority are reported to be children, older people, and pregnant and lactating mothers. Families are arriving to urban centres or existing settlements for internally displaced people, where living conditions are often difficult and there are few resources to cover the additional needs of the new arrivals.

Many children have dropped out of school to help their families earn a daily income and search for water and pasture. This has made them particularly vulnerable to risks such as forced marriage, family separation, and sexual violence and abuse. Women and girls, who make up half of the displaced population, are at heightened risk.

UNHCR is working closely with humanitarian partners to deliver much-needed assistance. So far, shelter materials, hygiene items, and other necessities have been delivered to 36,000 drought-affected people in the country, including 24,000 people in Galmudug and Puntland regions where the situation is most dire. Separated and unaccompanied children are being provided with medical assistance, psychosocial support, and counselling as well as safe spaces to protect them against forced child recruitment.

Families at risk of being evicted from their homes due to loss of income are also receiving legal assistance. In the coming weeks, at least 200 entrepreneurs will receive grants to help revive their businesses.

Globally, the climate crisis is accelerating, and the consequences of inaction are mounting. Many ecosystems are at a tipping point, and we are already seeing devastating effects on human health and life. Vulnerable communities are being hit the hardest, among them refugees, displaced, and stateless people. Over 80 per cent of refugees and internally displaced people come from the most climate vulnerable countries worldwide.

A report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last week highlighted the uneven impacts of the climate crisis on communities that have less capacity to adapt. Vulnerabilities are being amplified where people are already facing poverty, limited access to basic services and resources, conflict, and climate-dependent livelihoods.

Urgent investments are needed to build up strong adaptive capacities where they are most needed. Without them, we will witness greater suffering, loss of life, and increasing displacement.

In 2022, UNHCR requires US$157.5 million to deliver critical aid and protection to approximately 2.9 million internally displaced people in Somalia, 40,000 refugee returnees, some 31,000 refugees and asylum seekers, and up to 15,000 new arrivals from Ethiopia and other countries. As of 1 March 2022, only 5 per cent of that amount had been received.

Somalia: Anticipatory action and timely response help avert major outbreaks and protect the most vulnerable from health effects of drought (10.03.2022)

The anticipatory action project has also supported scaling up of essential health care services, including treatment of severely malnourished children in nutrition stabilization centres across the states covered.

GENEVA, Switzerland, March 10, 2022 – Somalia has witnessed intermittent drought over the last 3 decades. Each drought, and natural catastrophe, has brought with it a string of health consequences, magnified even further in a country with fragile and vulnerable health system.

CERF support delivering anticipatory action

To respond to an impending drought situation in Somalia during May to November in 2021, WHO provided timely support to the Ministry of Health and Human Services, with funding support from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). Part of the support focused on the prevention and mitigation of the health consequences of drought through anticipatory action, while the other focused on delivering an urgent, swift response through the deployment of rapid response teams in affected districts.

Highlighting the progress made Dr Mamunur Rahman Malik, WHO Representative to Somalia and Head of Mission, said, “Our support prevented a major catastrophe when the country has still been reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic and its health system was yet to fully recover.” By considering Somalia’s previous experiences with drought, we were able to predict scenarios, prepare for, and respond to, difficult situations to save lives, and all the while offer essential primary health care services throughout the same efforts.”

Preventing and mitigating public health risks by anticipating effects of emergencies

In 2021, through the CERF anticipatory action project, WHO supported the ministries of health in Somaliland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle, Jubaland and Puntland to prevent and mitigate the public health risks of drought. In 11 high-risk districts earmarked by Somalia’s Health Cluster, WHO took measures to prevent the spread of diseases, reaching 163 266 people directly, 69 635 of whom were internally displaced people (IDPs) and 81 021 were women.

The project also enabled WHO to deploy health care workers, and rapid response teams, with a view to preventing disease spread and mitigating the health effects of drought at community levels. As a result, over 1100 outbreak alerts were detected and investigated in a timely manner. By enhancing surveillance for diseases, detecting, investigating and responding to alerts early, the country was able to avert larger outbreaks of diseases from cholera, measles and other epidemic disease, save lives and reduce the health consequences of drought.

The anticipatory action project has also supported scaling up of essential health care services, including treatment of severely malnourished children in nutrition stabilization centres across the states covered.

Through this support, WHO distributed medical supplies for treatment of severe acute malnutrition, cholera, malaria and pneumonia, thereby reaching 244 250 people, who had limited access to health services, with community outreach services.

Delivering a rapid response to public health challenges

As part of the second CERF-funded rapid response project, in 2021, in collaboration with state ministries of health, WHO deployed rapid response teams and community health workers to provide an urgent, essential health response for IDPs and host communities in 9 drought-affected districts in Somaliland, Jubaland and Puntland. Through this support, WHO directly reached 123 181 Somalis, 61 573 of whom were female.

Through this project, WHO deployed 324 community health workers who visited every household in drought-affected district to, report alerts to the rapid response teams for field investigation. These community health workers reported a total 2527 epidemic alerts, including for suspected measles, cholera, malaria and respiratory tract infections. The rapid response teams that were trained and deployed in 39 districts through this project investigated 1686 of these alerts triggered from the community health workers. These interventions prevented major outbreaks in drought-affected areas. In addition, WHO’s work helped to provide essential health care to over 491 206 beneficiaries.

Communities’ needs drive project activities

In places like riverine villages where Dahawo Muse Yusuf and her family live, these interventions support Somalis to be prepared for, and respond to, public health challenges.

Sitting upright on a bed at the Jowhar Regional Hospital, Dahawo explained how her village, Raqayle Umar Gudley, is affected every time the Shabelle River swells with floods, or runs dry through a drought. This is yet another time when Dahawo and her community have not been able to harvest crops since the last deyr rains failed, she adds grimly. “We have no access to safe water and dig into the river bed to look for water sometimes,” said 20-year-old Dahawo. “I know of many people like me, from my village, who are suffering from diarrhoea due to drinking unsafe water. Once, an NGO – I can’t remember their name – gave us chlorine to clean water but that was just once.” When asked if she knew how to clean water, Dahawo chuckles and says they have not been able to discuss this issue at home, but that she would ask her husband, who is educated, to discuss with the community how to clean water to prevent diseases.

“People like Dahawo are suffering from diseases that can be prevented,” said Dr Mohamed Farah, the head clinician at the Jowhar Regional Hospital. “Many people also suffer from communicable diseases such as pneumonia, and acute watery diarrhoea, and several children are suffering from measles and severe acute malnutrition as the result of the drought. We are receiving patients from as far as Hiran and Jalaqsi. The situation is getting worse every day.”

Learning skills to prevent the spread of diseases The two CERF-funded projects reached health care workers with different skill sets. In Belet Weyne, Nimca Kalil Mohamud, a nurse working at the Eljalle Health Centre offers women support to breastfeed their babies properly, and gives advice on family planning and nutrition.

She explained that she learnt a lot about the prevention of COVID-19 and the integrated management of childhood illnesses at a capacity-building session offered by WHO and the Government through CERF in 2021.

In addition to advancing skills and knowledge, such training also motivates health workers like her to do her job better, Nimca added.

Offering primary health care services to support affected communities

In continuing to ensure humanitarian aid reaches people affected by public health crises, WHO is supporting the Ministry of Health in Somalia in 2022 to ensure a rapid response intervention to mitigate the public health risks in some of the severest drought-affected districts of Galmudug and South West State.

Under these rapid response interventions supported by CERF, the project aims to increase communities’ access to primary health care services through fixed and outreach services, including the timely detection of and swift response to alerts of epidemic-prone diseases, as well as support risk communication, community engagement and health promotion activities. These efforts will continue to protect vulnerable populations from the adverse effects of drought.

Somalia: Statement by the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Mr. Adam Abdelmoula, on the situation in Diinsoor District, South West State (03.03.2022)

Somalia: Somalia Humanitarian Fund allocates US$25 million for early response to drought (24.02.2022)