Nine hundred thousand Somalis face food crisis

July 4, 2005

According to a report from the UN (OCHA), 500,000 Somalians are directly affected by a drought, around 400,000 are internally displaced, and an additional 12,000 Somalians had been affected by seasonal  in the central regions of  and  as well as in the self-declared northwestern republic of Somaliland.

"Overall, the extended effects of four years of drought, which adversely impacted livelihoods and coping mechanisms, combined with chronic food insecurity, and more recently flooding has exacerbated the suffering of Somalis," said the report.

OCHA estimates that around 44,000 people were directly affected by the, and many still need urgent humanitarian assistance, the agency said. An estimated figure released by OCHA stated that $162,266,738 would be needed to be raised to target an estimated 900,000 vulnerable people. As of June 10, donors had funded approximately 39 percent of this appeal.

The December devastated the northeastern Somali coastline, further worsening the humanitarian situation now seen in Somalia. Good seasonal rains in Somalia which have ended a four-year drought have done little to help the estimated 900,000 Somalians in need of humanitarian aid.