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Somalia

Humanitarian Bulletin Somalia, June 2017 | Issued on 5 July 2017

Attachments

HIGHLIGHTS

• Poor Gu rainfall performance likely to impact July harvest

• Nutrition situation remains worrisome

• Humanitarians engage authorities to ease access impediments

Figures

# of people in humanitarian emergency and crisis 3.2m

# of people in food security stress 3.5m

# of acutely 363,000 malnourished children under age 5

Source : www.fsnau.org (February 2017)

# of internally displaced people before November 2016 1.1m

# of Somali refugees in the Horn of Africa and Yemen 1.2m

Source: UNHCR

Drought persists amid poor Gu rainfall

The Gu rainy season was shorter than normal and generally poor in large parts of the country, especially those with the highest vulnerabilities such as Bakool and northern Bay regions in South West state. Portions of Puntland and Somaliland, which have had the most prolonged drought conditions, did experienced good rains in May. The southern regions of Lower Juba, Middle Juba and southern Bay also recorded good rains in May and June. Overall, rainfall totals were over 30 per cent below average in Somalia, but over 50 per cent below average in the worst-affected areas, according to the recent Global Food Security Alert issued by Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET).

While the rains have provided respite in some areas resulting in seed germination, recharge of water points, regeneration of pasture and improvement of livestock body conditions, reduced crop yields are expected and the high level of asset loss cannot be easily offset. An elevated risk of famine persists in some parts of the country, partly due to severe food consumption gaps, high acute malnutrition and high disease burden. While many parts of the country continued to receive rains until the last week of May, there was an early end of the rains in the southern and central regions. The humanitarian situation is particularly worrisome in rural areas. Continued and scaledup support for rural communities through the rest of 2017 will be necessary to prevent worsening food insecurity and protect livelihoods. Efforts are being made to identify where recovery activities can be undertaken to assist those communities to distance themselves from crisis.

Disclaimer

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
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