SomReP appeals for a scale up to its Crisis Modifier to preserve resilience gains and save lives
Parts of Somalia could face famine by the end of 2022, unless assistance reaches the most in need, this is according to a final warning by the UN and Humanitarian partners. In early September the UN warned that time was quickly running out to save lives. Of particular concern are the districts of Baidoa and Burhakaba in the Bay region which are at the highest risk of famine between October and December 2022.
At least 7 million people across (nearly half of the population) are food insecure, following a prolonged drought that’s been exacerbated by a record fourth consecutive failed rainy season amidst rising food prices. Furthermore, over a million people have fled their homes in search of food, water and pasture.
“In this day and age, no Somali child should have to die because of hunger, not under our watch. After the 2011 famine in Somalia, we said never again. In 2022, a record fifth failed rainy season has overstretched the capacities of even the most resilient Somali households, communities, and systems”
In August 2022, SomReP assessed how families and communities were coping in the face of the continued drought. The assessments found that for most families supported through the program, the magnitude and severity of the drought had overwhelmed their ability to cope. Furthermore, nearly 43% of households said that they experienced moderate to severe hunger, an increase of 12% since December 2021.
This means, these households are experiencing low food consumption scores, saving rates, and depleted family and clan support.
Our Crisis Modifier is tried and tested: it works
From our experience, Crisis Modifier is a powerful tool and if deployed in a timely and targeted manner can support families not to resort to desperate survival mechanisms such as selling their livelihood assets or abandon their homes in search of humanitarian assistance.
With the support of our donors SDC, SIDA and the European Union, SomRep was able to deploy its Crisis Modifier in the first quarter of 2022, reaching 20,213 people through cash assistance, rehabilitating water points and emergency water trucking, thus protecting resilience gains, covering 33% of the most vulnerable households.
Our current response under the Crisis Modifier has contributed to 36% drop in households adopting extreme coping mechanisms over the last five months.
However, our ability to respond at scale up and match the drought needs is limited due to funding constraints. We are therefore seeking US$25M in top-up funding to continue our response-to recovery activities in current locations but also scale to hardest hit areas. Our scale up plan will especially target districts of Baidoa and Bakool in the Bay region of Somalia. Baidoa in particular has recorded a surge in internally displaced persons seeking assistance
“The time for Crisis Modifier is now to enable us scale up our lifesaving and resilience support. Not another child should die under our watch”