At least 1.8 million Somali children under the age of 5 are at risk of severe malnutrition – nearly half a million need treatment for life-threatening severe acute malnutrition.
Somalia’s current crisis has been many years in the making. 5 consecutive failed rainy seasons between 2018 and 2022 have left an estimated 8.25 million people reliant on life-sustaining humanitarian assistance.
Rainfall so far in 2023 has provided some respite from the drought that has ravaged the country’s arable lands, but the Somali people continue to face catastrophic food shortages.
Nearly four million people are now displaced across the country – 1 million people in the first 4 months of 2023 alone.
Just 1 meal a day
Hakima is the sole provider for her 6 children. The family currently live in the Ilawadag camp for internally displaced people (IDPs), situated on the outskirts of Mogadishu. Hakima and her husband, Adan, used to earn a living from farming in their village of Bagdad in Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region. They sold crops at market – maize, sesame, onions, tomatoes, and salads – to earn a regular income.
The Shabelle River, which has historically flowed throughout the year, provided them with water to tend their crops, but it has become an unreliable source – frequently drying up or flooding its banks due to intense rainfall. In Somalia, climate change means a spiral of drought and flooding: too little or too much water.
The family sought refuge in the Ilawadag camp, but their lives there are very challenging. Adan walks the streets of nearby Mogadishu every day seeking work, while Hakima travels to the capital every day to knock on doors, offering to wash dishes or clothes or any menial work to earn some money to feed their children.
None of the children can attend school. Food is increasingly scarce and the camp lacks basic sanitary care. Women and children have to walk to nearby trees to go to the toilet, leaving them vulnerable to sexual violence.
“Our life is very difficult and we depend on begging people in the town [for support]… but today we are very happy as I received these food packages,”Hakima says.
“My children eat just one meal a day, mainly at night, sometimes just eating leftovers from the previous night.”
Tackling hunger among displaced communities
Islamic Relief is providing emergency relief and development projects in Somalia’s South Central region in response to the acute humanitarian need and mass displacement, including tackling the spiralling levels of child malnutrition.
Hakima and her family have been supported by Islamic Relief’s Support the Malnourished Children of Somalia (SMACs) project. The project aims to save lives through early diagnosis and referral to health professionals, as well as to address the underlying causes of malnutrition.
Around 900 displaced households who sought refuge in Ilawadag and other camps on the outskirts of Mogadishu have received emergency food packages of rice, sugar, flour, cooking oil and milk powder from Islamic Relief.
These packages provide Hakima’s family and many others with some temporary relief, but so many more of the most vulnerable are in need of help. Please help them to begin the process of rebuilding their lives. Donate now.