Somalia - Complex Emergency
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Regional Team: ECA
Disaster Declared: 10/17/2005
Brief Description: Since the collapse of Mohamed Siad Barre’s government in January 1991, Somalia has existed without a functioning central government and suffered from outbreaks of armed conflict between rival clan groups. Two years of peace talks led to the establishment of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in October 2004, but unresolved differences among the various members of the TFG continue to undermine efforts to establish a permanent government in Somalia. Ongoing civil strife, interclan conflicts, and increased tensions within the fledging TFG have also adversely affected the tenuous food security situation. Years of widespread violence, combined with extreme poverty, have resulted in the migration of approximately 350,000 refugees to Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Yemen. In addition, an estimated 370,000 to 400,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) continue to require humanitarian assistance.
In January 2006, multi-agency assessments by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Food Security Analysis Unit and USAID Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) reported that an estimated 1.7 million people in North, Central, and Southern regions of Somalia faced a serious humanitarian emergency following failure of the October to December 2005 deyr rains. The crisis is particularly severe in the southern regions of Somalia, where an estimated 1.4 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Further complicating the situation is the regional nature of the drought, which extends into southern and southeastern Ethiopia and northern Kenya.
On October 27, 2005, U.S. Ambassador to Kenya William M. Bellamy renewed the Somalia disaster declaration for FY 2006. OFDA’s primary focus in Somalia is addressing basic humanitarian needs of the most vulnerable populations through water and sanitation, health, and nutrition activities where security conditions allow. In addition, OFDA supports access to vulnerable populations for USAID staff and implementing partners through the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF)-managed air services. Since 1991, OFDA has provided more than $157.5 million of humanitarian assistance to Somalia.
FY2006 Somalia Situation Reports
FY2006 Horn of Africa Situation Reports
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