Emergency relief

Seasonal drought—including a historically severe drought and famine in 2011—have been exacerbated by recent increases in conflict and military offensives, compounding and complicating the humanitarian crisis in Somalia. Life-threatening drought returned to the country in 2017, leading to the displacement of over one million Somalis. As water sources disappeared, crops failed, and livestock herds were decimated, families were forced to abandon their homes and make the dangerous journey to urban areas in search of assistance.

Over 2 Million people—nearly 15% of the population—are internally displaced. Displaced people live in desperate circumstances, with limited or no access to water, sanitation, or health facilities, making them completely dependent on humanitarian assistance. These difficult circumstances disproportionately impact small children in Somalia, where more than 300,000 children under the age of five suffer from acute malnutrition, including almost 50,000 who are severely malnourished.

Nearly half of Somalia’s Internally displaced people have settled in Mogadishu, Baidoa, and other cities in south-central Somalia, where VACSOM works with local government and communities to meet basic nutritional and sanitation needs, ensure protection of women, children and vulnerable groups, build resilience, and lay the foundation for peace among communities in conflict. VACSOM approaches its emergency response programming through a framework of activities to save lives and support livelihoods, knowing that these measures are only the first step followed by many others to sustainably support a community to stand on its own feet and build resilience against the cause of the intervention.