The United Nations has released approximate $3 million to help people affected by an unprecedented storm which delivered a full year’s worth of rain in just a few days, compounding damage caused by recent severe flooding.
This grant will help to tackle the effects of climate change among the most vulnerable local populations, as resilience in these communities had already been extremely strained due to at least four failed rainy seasons.
UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Peter de Clercq said, “We are on the ground, both the UN and NGOs, and we have already been providing assistance, particularly in the form of immediate food security assistance, and also non-food items, shelter items in particular, and health assistance – and this has kicked in, basically, from day one.”
The recent landfall of Cyclone Sagar on the northern Horn of Africa has affected some 160,000 people, killing dozens and causing severe damage to infrastructure and economic hardship, especially for traditional pastoralists.
The UN official said the response to the combination of events – storm, floods and drought – highlighted the need for a response which addresses both the short- and longer-term humanitarian needs with the short-term; the longer-term being centred on building the resilience of communities like that of the Awhal region.
Currently, the Humanitarian Response Plan funding stands at $390 million – less than 50 per cent of the amount that was pledged at this stage in 2017.
