Press Release
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The Egyptian Coalition for Human Rights and Development (ECHRD) on Wednesday (November 24th) called upon the international community and relief agencies around the world to provide humanitarian assistance to the Somali people, who are at grave risk from climate change, after Somalia’s prime minister announced on Tuesday that his country is in an emergency humanitarian situation due to drought.
Somalia suffers from a range of problems, including conflict, food insecurity and loss of pastures that threaten the survival of livestock, which forms the basis of livelihoods for many Somalis, volatile weather, lack of annual rainfall, destruction of infrastructure and lack of healthy water. This threatens to deteriorate public health and increases the risk of disease outbreaks in light of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
These crises have displaced 2.9 million people living in camps lacking the most basic services such as education and health. Some 5.9 million people, equivalent to half the population, are in need of humanitarian assistance, of whom 2.7 million are in dire need of food, and 1 million children face the danger of famine and malnutrition.
The United Nations has estimated an estimated 2.7 million Somalis, including 840,000 children under the age of five facing food insecurity, and last month called on the United Nations to provide rapid support to drought-stricken people in Somalia, particularly in the southern regions of The Provinces of Ghad and Lower Juba. The UN also stated that the drought “has affected large parts of Somalia since last June, and several families have been unable to provide drinking water and improve sanitation and hygiene facilities.”
According to UN estimates, Somalia needs nearly $1 billion to overcome these crises within one year.
The Egyptian Coalition for Human Rights and Development once again appeals to the international community and humanitarian organizations to provide support and relief to the Somali people.
