20 Mar Introduction to Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management

The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management [MoHADM] was established in March 2017. The establishment of MoHADM acts as a milestone for Somalia as the country is facing one of the worst droughts and humanitarian crisis. The MoHADM will work to transform Somalia such that the impact of hazards would not hamper development and where the provision of a better quality of life is achieved through effective emergency and disaster management services and cohesive recovery systems. The MoHADM is the principal institution at the federal level with the mandate to manage and coordinate all humanitarian affairs as well as all aspects of disaster mitigation, preparedness and response working closely with the regional and local governments.

Humanitarian Overview:

The Gu rains were late with poor rainfalls of 50% less than the normal rainfall leading to severe draught across most parts of the country. Despite some late rains finally reached, the crop loss and the damage is still irreversible. Humanitarians have massively scaled up response in coordination with authorities in Somalia and funded $767 millions in donor support. This funding assisted 5.2 million people to be reached in May and June with food and safety nets, much of the food assistance was through cash programming. Over 18.5 million heads of livestock were treated against diseases, benefiting 2.8 million people. The AWD/cholera case fatality rate of 1.5 per cent remains above the one per cent emergency threshold and cases continue to be reported. While humanitarian offers have been pouring in since the country was hit by the famine, and that number of sectors have sustained their current level of response, its necessary to point out that lack of funding still hampers some efforts, causing some other sectors such as WASH to scale back their activities, therefore efforts and scaling up the response must be sustained to prevent worsening food insecurity and protect livelihoods.