EU donates €3 million euro to drought-ridden Somalia

The European Union, through the European Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid department, on Wednesday announced it has provided €3 million toward UNICEF’s humanitarian response for children and women caught in Somalia’s prolonged drought.After several failed rainy seasons and a massive loss of crops, livestock and livelihoods, on 2 February 2017, a pre-famine alert was issued for Somalia by the UN humanitarian coordinator.

With early, scaled-up response led by the authorities and supported by the international community, famine was successfully averted.
However, some 5.4 million people continue to require humanitarian assistance, including 2.8 million children.
The crisis triggered measles and cholera outbreaks, affecting 20,000 and 78,000 people, respectively, the majority of them children.
Over three million children, out of a total of 4.9 million, were out of school by the end of the year, and gender-based violence against women and children has been on the rise.

The new grant enables UNICEF to provide lifesaving treatment for children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, procure emergency water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) supplies to help communities prevent disease outbreaks.
The donation will also assist children and women affected by gender-based violence and unaccompanied and separated children and ensure children displaced by drought have safe and protected learning spaces to continue their education.
 
In 2017, EU humanitarian funding enabled UNICEF to reach some 43,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition with lifesaving treatment, and 11,000 patients, most of them children, with treatment for acute watery diarrhoea/cholera.

“The EU and its humanitarian partners contributed to preventing famine in 2017, thousands of Somali children were spared a senseless death,” Christos Stylianides, the European Union’s Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

“But it is clear that many Somali families are still very fragile due to relentless succession of droughts and displacement. Through our renewed partnership with UNICEF, the EU remains committed to helping the children and women most impacted by these crises,” he added.

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