UNHCR revises funding needs for displaced Somalis

UNHCR, the UN Refuge Agency is revising its funding requirements for people displaced inside Somalia and for Somali refugees in the region. 

We are seeking some USD 488 million to provide continued support to displaced Somalis in 2017. The update includes an additional requirement of USD 91 million for Somali refugees in Ethiopia, Kenya, Yemen and those displaced inside Somalia.

More than two million Somalis are currently displaced by conflict - now lasting for more than two decades. Some 1.5 million people are internally displaced in Somalia and nearly 900,000 are refugees in the region - including some 308,700 in Kenya, 255,600 in Yemen, 246,900 in Ethiopia, and 13,200 in Djibouti. 

Apart from helping refugees in the region, the UNHCR appeal aims to cover needs of some 250,000 most vulnerable among the newly displaced – including those forced to leave Somalia due to drought and continued insecurity. 

UNHCR also needs resources to address return and reintegration of 50,000 returnees from Kenya and 10,000 from Yemen.

The updated funding appeal is combined with our call for continued and sustainable international engagement with the government of Somalia and also refugee hosting countries in the region.  

Insecurity, capacity of government institutions, curtailed humanitarian access, limited livelihood opportunities, lack of basic services, poor infrastructure are some of the key challenges in Somalia. The current risk of famine with reports of deaths and illnesses caused by drought-related factors is further complicating daily lives of Somalis. Inside Somalia, some 6.2 million people is in need of humanitarian aid. 

The ongoing drought also increases risk of famine-induced displacement in the region. Since November 2016, more than 683,000 people in Somalia have been internally displaced by drought, including more than 377,000 displaced during the first quarter of 2017. Over 126,000 of those are in the capital Mogadishu, and some 136,000 to Baidoa in the country’s southwest Bay region. 

In addition to conflict and famine-induced internal displacement, some refugees are returning to Somalia - mainly from Kenya (60,800) since December 2013) and Yemen (30,600) since March 2015. At the same time, large numbers of Somalis continue to seek safety across national borders. Since the start of the year, more than 4,500 Somali fleeing drought and continued insecurity have been registered in Melkadida, Ethiopia. Approximately 75 per cent of the newly arrived children are affected by acute malnutrition.

For more information on this topic, please contact:

• In Geneva, Babar Baloch, [email protected], +41 79 513 95 49