pastoralists

Over a decade since Somalia experienced a devastating famine that killed over a quarter of a million people, another famine is looming in East Africa. Despite various warnings and alarms over the past two years, we are once again responding too late and with too little to avert the crisis. The humanitarian system must evolve in order to enable and fully fund anticipatory action.

Water is life. Water is on everyone’s mind, and as we observe World Water Day on 22 March, the time has come for us to take action and find ways to conserve this limited resource so that future generations can also make use of it.

Over 100,000 people devastated by the recent cyclone in Somalia are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. NGOs in Somalia have been working with Puntland authorities and UN agencies to determine how best to respond to save lives.

According to a recent field study conducted in communities in western and eastern Niger, between 70 and 90 per cent of people estimate their food stocks will run out before the next harvest, creating an imminent ‘hunger gap’.

Somalia is suffering its worst drought in years and failed rains are already devastating half a million lives, international aid agency Oxfam warned today. An ongoing conflict in the country together with the drought has pushed hundreds of thousands of Somalis beyond their ability to cope.