Somalia, a country that’s a little smaller than Texas, has been without an effective government since 1991. In the years that have followed, periodic conflict has erupted between rival factions, forcing massive displacements of people and severely disrupting the economy.
Background
Somalia, a country that’s a little smaller than Texas, has been without an effective government since 1991. In the years that have followed, periodic conflict has erupted between rival factions, forcing massive displacements of people and severely disrupting the economy.
The violence, combined with cycles of drought and flooding across Somalia, has had a catastrophic impact on ordinary citizens, creating enormous needs in rural communities and among displaced people.
At the close of 2008, about 3.2 million people—half of Somalia’s population—were in need of emergency aid. Since the start of 2007, violence has forced 870,000 people to flee their homes, bringing the total number of displaced Somalis to 1.3 million. Aid workers, too, have become the target of violence. In 2008 alone, more than 30 aid workers were killed, most of them from citizens of Somalia.
The United Nations has warned that the humanitarian situation in the country will worsen if measures are not taken to address the droughts, the continued displacement due to insecurity, and the inflation that has lead to soaring food prices.