7.7m Somalis Require Humanitarian Assistance, UN Official Tells Security Council

Posted by African Examiner African News, Latest Headlines Wednesday, February 16th, 2022

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – UN senior official in Somalia, James Swan, told the Security Council on Tuesday that some 7.7 million Somalis require humanitarian assistance in 2022, with 4.3 million impacted by drought and more than 270,000 displaced.

Swan, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), told the Council that the UN Humanitarian Response Plan for Somalia currently stands at only two per cent funded.

The special representative reiterated his call on donors to increase their support, noting that Somalia and the wider Horn of Africa region are facing one of the most severe droughts in decades.

According to the recently-released Somalia Food Security and Nutrition Assessment, published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), more than 1.4 million children in Somalia – nearly half of the country’s under-five population – are likely to suffer from acute malnutrition due to the ongoing drought.

A critical shortage of water has forced families to migrate to urban and peri-urban centres, adding to the 2.9 million people who were already displaced by conflict and climate change.

Since November 2021, water prices in some of the worst-affected areas have risen by as much as 72 per cent.

Briefing the Council on the political situation in the country, Swan said the leaders must put aside their differences and urgently conclude a credible election process.

Speaking on recent political developments, including the conclusion of Upper House of Parliament elections, he said national elections are now more than a year behind schedule and women’s representation remains significantly off-track.

He also spoke on the ongoing House of the People election as well as increasing attacks by the Al-Shabaab militant group and a deepening humanitarian crisis triggered by one of the region’s worst droughts in decades.

The special representative said that, since his last briefing in November 2021, election plans – first agreed earlier that year – have progressed considerably.

“While this is a welcome development, this pace needs to be further accelerated,” he said, noting that only 130 of 275 seats of the House of the People have been filled to date.

Pointing out that 23 of those seats have so far gone to women, about 22 per cent of the total, he said that number fell well short of the 30 per cent agreed women’s quota for the country’s political leaders and urged all actors to redouble their efforts to meet that target.

While political tensions among some Somali leaders continue to flare up sporadically – largely the result of “posturing and brinkmanship” – he reported that they have so far been quickly contained.

“Yet, a real risk remains that a miscalculation could lead these tensions to spill over into conflict,” he warned.

In the security arena, the Al-Shabaab militant group continues to pose a major security threat to Somalia, with Banadir region and South West states, serving as its centre of operations.

Recent months have also seen an increase in the use of improvised explosive devices and rising numbers of attacks in the capital, Mogadishu, with civilian casualties.

Noting that the future configuration of the African Union Mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM, is currently under review, Swan said the UN is engaged in discussions with the Federal Government of Somalia, the African Union and key donors, on various technical aspects of its future mandate and configuration.

Progress has also been registered in implementing the Somali Transition Plan, which is key both for the Mission’s reconfiguration and for determining how quickly it will transfer responsibilities to the Somali security forces.

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