Press Release
U.S. Agency for International Development Fact Sheet #12, Fiscal Year (FY) 2011:
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
• The number of people in need of humanitarian assistance throughout the Horn of Africa currently stands at 13.3 million--up from 12.4 million at the end of July, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Approximately 750,000 Somalis including 490,000 in rural areas, primarily in Bay, Lower Shabelle, Middle Shabelle, and Bakool regions, and 260,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Mogadishu and the Afgooye corridor are reportedly at risk of death during the next four months without sufficient relief, according to the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit-Somalia (FSNAU). Insecurity and lack of humanitarian access continue to significantly constrain relief efforts in southern Somalia.
For example, on September 8, armed militia reportedly shut down feeding centers in Lower Shabelle and Gedo regions, denying life-saving assistance to drought-affected populations, according to the U.N.
• Humanitarian assistance to Somalia in August and September to date has increased significantly since July. In August, humanitarian aid--including assistance sent by many Gulf and Arab countries--arrived in Mogadishu and other parts of southern Somalia by air and sea, according to OCHA. However, the humanitarian community remains particularly concerned about the humanitarian situation in Bay, Bakool, and Middle Shabelle regions, where access and coverage of humanitarian needs remain the lowest.
• Despite ongoing relief efforts, food security conditions are expected to deteriorate further in some areas of Somalia over the coming four months. By December, famine may extend to some areas of Gedo, Juba, Middle Shabelle, and Hiran regions, according to USAID's Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET).
NUMBERS AT A GLANCE
Source
People Requiring Humanitarian Assistance in Kenya
4.3 million
OCHA - September 8, 2011
People Requiring Humanitarian Assistance in Ethiopia
4.8 million[1]
OCHA - September 8, 2011
People Requiring Humanitarian Assistance in Somalia
4.0 million
U.N. Agencies - September 5, 2011
People Requiring Humanitarian Assistance in Djibouti
165,642
OCHA - September 8, 2011
Number of Somali Refugees in Kenya
491,000
UNHCR[2] - September 15, 2011
Number of Somali Refugees in Ethiopia
182,000
UNHCR - September 15, 2011
Number of Somali Refugees in Djibouti
18,000
UNHCR - September 1, 2011
FY 2011 HUMANITARIAN FUNDING[3]
USAID/OFDA[4] Assistance to the Horn of Africa
$94,817,523
USAID/FFP[5] Assistance to the Horn of Africa
$403,393,274
State/PRM[6] Assistance to the Horn of Africa
$106,391,455
Total USAID and State Assistance to the Horn of Africa
$604,602,252
[1] Includes refugees, except 20,000 new refugee arrivals from Sudan.
[2] The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
[3] Includes funding to Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia
[4] USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA)
[5] USAID's Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP)
[6] U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (State/PRM)
Context
• Following the below-normal 2011 spring rains in the eastern Horn of Africa, food security among pastoralists and populations in marginal farming areas sharply deteriorated. In addition to below-normal harvests, shortages of grazing resources for livestock resulted in abnormal migrations, with pastoralists travelling long distances in search of pasture and water. Livestock health and market prices have deteriorated, with milk production declining significantly for the majority of affected households. Many children in the region rely on milk for protein and nutrients.
• In Somalia, where drought conditions have exacerbated a complex emergency, the U.N. has declared that acute malnutrition indicators, crude mortality rates, and food access levels have surpassed famine thresholds in Bay Region, Lower Shabelle Region, areas of Bakool Region, areas of Balcad and Cadale districts in Middle Shabelle Region, and among IDPs in Mogadishu and the Afgooye corridor.
• On October 7, 2010, U.S. Chargé d'Affaires a.i. to Kenya Lee A. Brudvig renewed the disaster declaration for the complex emergency in Somalia for FY 2011. On October 25, 2010, U.S. Ambassador Donald E. Booth reissued a disaster declaration in response to the ongoing complex emergency in Ethiopia. On February 4, 2011, U.S. Chargé d'Affaires Tulinabo S. Mushingi declared a disaster due to the effects of the drought in Ethiopia. On January 28, 2011, U.S. Ambassador Michael E. Ranneberger declared a disaster due to the effects of the drought in Kenya.
• In response, the U.S. Government (USG) immediately increased assistance to affected areas of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. On July 6, 2011, USAID activated a regional Disaster Assistance Response Team (USAID/DART) in Nairobi, Kenya, and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to monitor regional drought conditions, identify humanitarian needs, and coordinate response activities with other donors. USAID also stood up a Response Management Team in Washington, D.C., to support the USAID/DART and coordinate USG humanitarian efforts.
Food Security and Livelihoods
• FEWS NET expects emergency food security levels in southern Ethiopia and Kenya to improve by December 2011 due to ongoing response efforts and the positive impact of the anticipated October to December rains on harvests and market prices. In Somalia, however, without improvements in humanitarian access, FSNAU expects famine to spread to additional areas during the next four months.
• The U.N. World Food Program (WFP) is targeting approximately 10.2 million drought-affected individuals, including refugees, in the Horn of Africa region. Since the beginning of July, WFP has provided emergency food assistance to more than 6.7 million drought-affected individuals in the Horn of Africa. WFP, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) continue to scale up food distributions in Somalia.
Ethiopia
• The Joint Emergency Operation a consortium of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is providing emergency food assistance to approximately 950,000 people throughout Ethiopia. Meanwhile, WFP is meeting the needs of more than 3.7 million individuals, including 240,000 refugees, according to OCHA.
• USAID employs a unique strategic approach in Ethiopia, integrating traditional humanitarian assistance activities with broader development platforms to address emergency needs while simultaneously enhancing populations' resiliency to future drought and other natural shocks. For example, USAID/OFDA is supporting the three-year Revitalizing Agricultural/Pastoral Incomes and New Markets program to improve the resiliency of drought-affected populations across Somali and Oromiya regions. Recent program achievements include opening the first Somali Microfinance Lending branch in Jijiga, Somali Region, and establishing 16 women's income-generating groups to increase household savings to help reduce vulnerability to price shocks.
• USAID/FFP supports the Government of Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), which aims to reduce food consumption gaps and prevent asset depletion among chronically food insecure households through improved access to markets and natural resources. In operation since 2005, the PSNP provides food and cash to approximately 7.5 million Ethiopians in exchange for building community infrastructure. This safety net system has allowed individuals to withstand the worst effects of drought; beneficiaries of PSNP are not among the 4.5 million drought-affected individuals identified as requiring urgent humanitarian assistance.
Kenya
• While drought continues to affect the food security and livelihoods of approximately 4.3 million people in Kenya--including more than 500,000 refugees--above-average rainfall over the past five weeks has caused flooding in the Lake Victoria region, damaging infrastructure, displacing people, and destroying crops, according to OCHA. The Kenya Meteorological Department has predicted enhanced rainfall with the potential for flooding in central Kenya and southeastern lowlands, prompting humanitarian agencies to begin developing contingency plans for floods.
• USAID is responding to current emergency needs in drought-affected areas of Kenya, while simultaneously supporting programs aimed at strengthening local populations' ability to cope with and combat the effects of drought, thereby reducing the need for future emergency interventions. For example, with USAID/OFDA support, Welthungerhilfe (WHH) is assisting Kenyan communities to construct and manage rock catchment water systems designed to collect and store rainwater for future use. Many WHH rock catchment programs include a cash-for-work component that temporarily employs community members to help construct the system, injecting cash into the local economy and benefiting the entire community. WHH estimates that rock catchments can collect 90 percent of total rainfall in the catchment area, providing a valuable water supply even when rains are below normal levels.
• WFP is providing emergency food assistance to more than 553,000 refugees in Kenya, including approximately 471,000 in Dadaab refugee complex and 82,000 in Kakuma camp. In FY 2011, USAID has provided $77.5 million in in-kind and monetary contributions to WFP's Drought Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation, which targets drought-affected Kenyans in the arid and semi-arid areas of the country.
Somalia
• Food Assistance Cluster members continue to scale up response efforts to reach 4 million people in need of food assistance in September. Between September 1 and 9, Food Assistance Cluster members provided assistance through general food distributions, blanket supplementary feeding programs, and targeted rations, benefiting approximately 690,000 individuals--more than 50 percent of total beneficiaries reached in the entire month of August.
• In August, the Food Assistance Cluster reached more than 471,000 individuals in Banadir Region--including Mogadishu--more than 348,000 individuals in Bakool, Bay, Gedo, Lower Juba, and Lower Shabelle regions of southern Somalia; nearly 381,000 in Galgaduud, Hiran, and Mudug regions of central Somalia; and nearly 100,000 individuals in Puntland and Somaliland, according to OCHA.
• Currently, the Agriculture and Livelihoods Cluster is implementing food voucher programs in Gedo, Lower Shabelle, Bay, Bakool, Banadir, Gedo, and Lower Juba and Middle Juba regions, benefiting more than 170,000 people, according to OCHA. In addition, Agriculture and Livelihoods Cluster members are implementing cash relief programs in Gedo and Lower Juba regions, benefiting nearly 18,000 individuals.
• To date in FY 2011, USAID has provided $8 million to support voucher and cash-for-work programs in Somalia, benefiting approximately 159,000 individuals.
Health, Nutrition, and WASH
• The first rains of the season have already reached some drought-affected areas in the Horn of Africa. Rainfall expected during the next few months--while potentially offering relief in the long-term--will, in the short run, undoubtedly place vulnerable, drought-affected populations at a heightened risk of disease. Acute malnutrition compromises the immune system, rendering individuals less resilient to diseases such as measles, malaria, and cholera.
• USAID is supporting a multi-sectoral approach to reduce excess morbidity and mortality among drought-affected populations in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. Interventions in nutrition, health, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are addressing emergency needs, while the specific approaches are helping to build community capacity and resiliency to future shocks. USAID is supporting relief agencies to build rain catchment and storage tanks, train local populations on the community management of acute malnutrition, and implement emergency immunization campaigns, among various other activities. Nearly $60 million in USAID FY 2011 funding is benefiting approximately 3 million people in the region with integrated health, nutrition, and WASH activities.
Ethiopia
• In July--the most recent month for which data are available more than 28,000 children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) were admitted into therapeutic feeding programs in Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR), Oromiya, Tigray, Amhara, and Somali regions. In four of the five regions, nutrition partners expect SAM admissions to decrease from September to October and stabilize thereafter.
In the pastoral Somali region, however, relief agencies predict increasing admissions through October. To date, more than 270 health professionals in the Somali Region have received training on the management of SAM, according to the U.N.
• Relief agencies continue to report a high prevalence of acute malnutrition among Somalis at the Dollo Ado refugee complex. Nutrition screenings of new arrivals reveal SAM levels ranging from 7 to 19 percent across the four camps, according to UNHCR.
• According to a September 13 U.N. report, health agencies have reported cases of acute watery diarrhea (AWD) in West/East Harerge zone of Oromiya, Dire Dawa, and Somali regions. With USAID/OFDA funding, UNICEF's mobile health and nutrition teams are collaborating with local government entities on activities to prevent and control AWD in these and other identified "hot spot" areas.
• USAID/OFDA is providing more than $25 million for health, WASH, and nutrition programs in Ethiopia, benefiting nearly 1.1 million people.
Kenya
• In Kenya, the Nutrition Cluster is scaling up activities to reach 300,000 malnourished children and pregnant and lactating women, the majority of whom live in the northwestern and northeastern districts of Turkana, West Pokot, Mandera, and Wajir. Through 1,100 feeding centers countrywide--up from 700 in August--relief agencies and the Government of Kenya have treated more than half of the target caseload. Meanwhile, WFP and nutrition partners have reached more than 80,000 children under the age of three with blanket supplementary feeding--a nutrition program designed to prevent protein-energy malnutrition and associated morbidity. In October, WFP plans to scale up blanket supplementary feeding to reach children under the age of five in the most-affected districts.
• As of September 13, weekly admissions for SAM continue to increase at Dadaab refugee complex. OCHA reports that since January, health facilities at Dadaab have treated approximately 13,000 severely malnourished children. In addition, health partners recently introduced supplemental Plumpy'nut for the management of moderate acute malnutrition, successfully reaching nearly 62,000 children under 5 years of age to date, according to OCHA.
• UNICEF is providing 16 water points along the major routes traveled by Somali refugees seeking asylum in Kenya. The agency has established seven points thus far, meeting the urgent water needs of more than 50,000 individuals. The WASH Cluster is currently conducting an assessment at Dollo Ado complex to identify gaps in assistance.
• In Kenya, health agencies have confirmed eight cases of cholera--all confined to Dadaab refugee complex and surrounding areas. To help avert additional cases of cholera and other communicable diseases, relief agencies are conducting a large-scale hygiene promotion campaign in and around Dadaab, targeting both refugee and host-community populations. The U.N. World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation provincial teams in North Eastern Province are conducting training on integrated disease surveillance and response for health teams in six districts hosting refugees.
• To date, USAID/OFDA has provided Kenya with more than $10 million in FY 2011 funding for nutrition and WASH activities, benefiting nearly 1 million people. Funding includes support to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control Prevention (CDC), which is collaborating with UNHCR to monitor malnutrition levels and mortality rates in Dadaab refugee complex.
Somalia
• Population-wide death rates are above the alert level--one death per 10,000 people per day--across all areas of southern Somalia, above the famine threshold--two deaths per 10,000 people per day--in the Bay, Bakool and Middle Shabelle regions, and more than double the famine threshold in Lower Shabelle region, and among IDPs in the Afgooye corridor and Mogadishu, according to the U.N.
• Somalia continues to experience outbreaks of cholera, malaria, measles, and pneumonia, all exacerbated by large-scale displacement, overcrowded living conditions, and poor access to water and sanitation. Health agencies expect communicable disease rates to increase further with the onset of rains in October.
• In August, health agencies in southern and central Somalia reported more than 1,900 suspected measles cases--up from 1,000 in July--with 80 percent occurring among children under the age of five. During the same time period, health agencies reported more than 7,100 cases of AWD in southern and central Somalia, including nearly 3,100 in Banadir Region alone.
• Prevailing high levels of acute malnutrition compound vulnerability to disease. Of the estimated 450,000 malnourished children in Somalia, nearly 42 percent suffer from SAM, and the vast majority--336,000--live in southern Somalia. Between January and early September, the Nutrition Cluster--the coordinating body for the nutrition response--treated nearly 160,000 cases of acute malnutrition, reaching 30,000 people in August alone. In addition, relief agencies reached 70,000 vulnerable people--including pregnant and lactating women--with BSF in August.
• Through an ongoing emergency immunization campaign in accessible areas of southern and central Somalia, health partners are targeting 2.3 million children aged between six months and 15 years. The campaign also includes polio vaccines, de-worming tablets, and vitamin A supplements. Relief agencies have completed the campaign in Banadir region, reaching 88 percent of the planned target.
• With $24.5 million in FY 2011 funding for Somalia, USAID/OFDA is supporting health, nutrition, and WASH programs designed to improve the lives and resiliency of more than 1 million people.
Humanitarian Access and Population Movements
• Access to Gedo Region and parts of Lower Juba Region in Somalia recently improved, enabling the humanitarian community to reach populations in need, according to OCHA. Despite al-Shabaab's withdrawal from Mogadishu in early August, coverage remains limited. Due to insecurity caused by a power vacuum, al-Shabaab's withdrawal has not automatically translated into improved humanitarian access in Mogadishu, according to OCHA.
• An increasing number of drought-affected people continue to move from southern regions of Somalia into Mogadishu, Ethiopia, and Kenya, albeit at a slower rate, according to UNHCR. Nearly 5,000 people moved to Mogadishu in August compared to at least 28,000 new arrivals in July. Arrivals to Kenya's Dadaab refugee complex averaged 1,200 Somalis per day in August, compared to 1,500 in July. During the same time period, average arrivals at Ethiopia's Dollo Ado camp declined from 1,000 to 250 Somali arrivals per day.
• The U.N. attributes the declining rate of arrivals to Mogadishu, Kenya, and Ethiopia, to three principal factors. First, donations from the Somali Diaspora and mobilization by local and host communities during the holy month of Ramadan helped drought-affected people remain in place. Second, recent improvements in humanitarian access in Lower Juba Region, particularly along Kenyan and Ethiopian borders, have reduced the pull factor to Mogadishu as a destination to seek aid. Third, al-Shabaab continues to control the movement of people in areas under their control, particularly men in Lower Shabelle and Bay Regions. IDPs continue to arrive at a camp newly established by al-Shabaab in Middle Juba Region, where 12,000 people have reportedly arrived to date, according to the U.N.
FY 2011 USAID AND STATE HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE HORN OF AFRICA
Implementing Partner
Activity
Location
Amount
FY 2011 Ethiopia
USAID/OFDA ASSISTANCE[1]
Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), CHF International, Food for the Hungry (FH), GOAL, International Medical Corps (IMC), International Rescue Committee (IRC), Mercy Corps, Merlin, Save the Children/U.S. (SC/US), U.N. Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS), U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), OCHA, UNICEF, WFP
Agriculture and Food Security; Health; Humanitarian Coordination and Information Management; Logistics and Relief Commodities; Nutrition; Protection; WASH
Ethiopia
$33,773,110
TOTAL USAID/OFDA ASSISTANCE TO ETHIOPIA IN FY 2011
$33,773,110
USAID/FFP ASSISTANCE[2]
Catholic Relief Services (CRS)/Joint Emergency Operations
97,100 MT of Title II Relief Food Assistance for Drought-Affected Areas
Ethiopia
$64,294,900
WFP
149,980 MT of Title II Relief Food Assistance for Drought-Affected Areas
Ethiopia
$116,814,900
WFP
28,040 MT of Title II Relief Food Assistance for Refugees
Ethiopia
$23,905,500
TOTAL USAID/FFP ASSISTANCE TO ETHIOPIA IN FY 2011
$205,015,300
STATE/PRM ASSISTANCE
IMC, IRC, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), SC/US, UNHCR
Refugee Protection and Assistance
Ethiopia
$42,212,437
TOTAL STATE/PRM ASSISTANCE TO ETHIOPIA IN FY 2011
$42,212,437
TOTAL USAID AND STATE HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO ETHIOPIA IN FY 2011
$281,000,847
FY 2011 Kenya
USAID/OFDA ASSISTANCE
Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED), CHF International, Concern, FAO, FH, Horn Relief, IMC, Mercy Corps, Mercy USA, Merlin, OCHA, Oxfam, Save the Children/U.K. (SC/UK), SC/US, UNICEF, Wajir South Development Association (WASDA), Welthungerhilfe (WHH)
Agriculture and Food Security; Economic Recovery and Market Systems; Humanitarian Coordination and Info Management; Humanitarian Studies, Analysis, or Applications; Nutrition; Natural and Technological Risks, WASH
Kenya
$24,301,060
TOTAL USAID/OFDA ASSISTANCE TO KENYA IN FY 2011
$24,301,060
USAID/FFP ASSISTANCE
57,380 MT of Title II-Funded and 15,000 MT of International Development Assistance (IDA)-Funded Emergency Food Assistance for Drought-Affected Areas
Kenya
$77,467,400
WFP
46,440 MT of Title II Emergency Food Assistance for Refugees
Kenya
$50,712,800
TOTAL USAID/FFP ASSISTANCE TO KENYA IN FY 2011
$128,180,200
STATE/PRM ASSISTANCE
AVSI Foundation, CARE, Center for Victims of Torture (CVT), Embassy Taft Fund, FilmAid International, Handicap International (HI), Heshima Kenya, Inc., IRC, JRS, Lutheran World Relief (LWR), NRC, Salesian Missions, SC/US, World University Service of Canada, UNHCR
Refugee Protection and Assistance
Kenya
$50,779,018
TOTAL STATE/PRM ASSISTANCE TO KENYA IN FY 2011
$50,779,018
TOTAL USAID AND STATE HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO KENYA IN FY 2011
$203,260,278
FY 2011 Somalia
USAID/OFDA ASSISTANCE
Implementing Partners
Agriculture and Food Security, Economic Recovery and Market Systems, Health, Humanitarian Coordination and Information Management, Nutrition, Protection, WASH, Logistics and Relief Commodities
Somalia
$36,743,353
TOTAL USAID/OFDA ASSISTANCE TO SOMALIA IN FY 2011
$36,743,353
USAID/FFP ASSISTANCE
WFP
31,420 MT of Title II and IDA-Funded Emergency Food Assistance for Drought-Affected Areas3
Somalia
$60,428,174
Implementing Partners
Nutrition
Somalia
$5,000,000
TOTAL USAID/FFP ASSISTANCE TO SOMALIA IN FY 2011
$65,428,174
TOTAL USAID AND STATE HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO SOMALIA IN FY 2011
$102,171,527
FY 2011 Djibouti
USAID/FFP ASSISTANCE
WFP
4,380 MT of Title II Emergency Food Assistance
Djibouti
$4,769,600
TOTAL USAID/FFP ASSISTANCE TO DJIBOUTI IN FY 2011
$4,769,600
STATE/PRM ASSISTANCE
UNHCR
Refugee Protection and Assistance
Djibouti
$1,400,000
TOTAL STATE/PRM ASSISTANCE TO DJIBOUTI IN FY 2011
$1,400,000
TOTAL USAID AND STATE HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO DJIBOUTI IN FY 2011
$6,169,600
FY 2011 Regional
STATE/PRM ASSISTANCE
ICRC
Support to Regional Activities
Regional
$10,000,000
UNHCR
Support to Regional Activities
Regional
$2,000,000
TOTAL STATE/PRM REGIONAL ASSISTANCE IN FY 2011
$12,000,000
TOTAL USAID AND STATE HUMANITARIAN REGIONAL ASSISTANCE IN FY 2011
$12,000,000
TOTAL USAID AND STATE HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
TO THE HORN OF AFRICA IN FY 2011
TOTAL USAID/OFDA FUNDING
$94,817,523
TOTAL USAID/FFP FUNDING
$403,393,274
TOTAL STATE/PRM FUNDING
$106,391,455
TOTAL USAID AND STATE HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE HORN OF AFRICA IN FY 2011
$604,602,252
Source: AllAfrica
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