Somalia: Drought Situation Report No.7 (As of 20 May 2022)

Some parts of Somalia have received light to moderate rains, but the amounts are insufficient to alleviate the current drought conditions. With no significant rains foreseen and the gu’ season having failed, the drought emergency is likely to deteriorate further.

As of May, 6.1 million people have been affected by the drought emergency, of whom 771,400 have been displaced from their homes in search of water, food and pasture: the majority are women and children.

As the country faces the risk of famine in six areas, partners are transitioning from drought response to famine prevention, reorienting responses to target the most vulnerable populations and developing a Famine Prevention Plan.

Partners have rolled out over 30 district level Area Based Coordination forums covering drought Operational Priority Areas 1 and 2, where partners exist but have weak operational coordination, information gaps and urgent unmet needs.

The humanitarian response is preventing the worst outcomes. Utilizing available resources, partners have reached at least 2.8 million people affected by drought with life-saving assistance since January. In districts with populations at risk of famine, food security response is high, while health, nutrition, shelter and WASH response needs to be scaled up.