The humanitarian situation in Somalia continues to deteriorate rapidly and famine is very likely in 2017. The number of people in need of assistance has increased from 5 million in September 2015 to 6.2 million in February 2017 and 444,000 people have been displaced since November 2016.
Many of the displaced people are moving into existing IDP settlements and others have established new settlements in some of the major towns. The deepening water shortages, together with the drought related displacements, poor hygiene and sanitation have also led to increased cases of acute watery diarrhea (AWD) and cholera. As of 29th March there were 18,819 AWD/cholera cases and 443 related deaths recorded since the beginning of 2017.
The devastating drought is threatening the lives of 607,000 pregnant women around the country. More than 130,000 of them may require critical and urgent assistance. Somalia already has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world; one out of every 22 women is likely to die due to pregnancy or childbirth-related causes during her life course.
Displacements lead to increased protection concerns as families are separated and children and the elderly are left behind, while makeshift camps leave women and children particularly vulnerable to risks of sexual and gender-based violence. The Protection Cluster has reported an increase in incidents of rape and other forms of sexual and gender based violence among newly arriving IDPs; an average of five cases is reported per week. The number is likely to be higher due to under reporting.
The security situation remains the same with no significant events relevant to UN activities reported.
