A small boy receives fluids intravenously at a hospital in the central region of Galguduud. Most of the children at the hospital suffer from malaria and malnutrition, and have been displaced from their homes by drought and conflict.
© UNICEF/NYHQ2009-0629/Kamber
The situation for children in Somalia is desperate. Following the worst violence in 17 years, the failure of another season of rains and the economic crisis, more than 3.25 million people in Somalia are now in need of assistance, including around 650,000 children under the age of five.
A combination of violence, the displacement of people, drought, extreme poverty, and a lack of basic services means that children are very vulnerable to abuse, disease and malnutrition.
Fighting between June and September 2008 resulted in hundreds of deaths and 1.3 million people have been forced to move away from their homes. Most of the displaced people are in the Central and Southern Zone, living in overpopulated camps with limited access to water, food and clean facilities.
UNICEF's response
UNICEF is targeting 1.5 million children and 1 million women with a life-saving package of services, including polio and measles vaccinations, Vitamin A supplements and oral rehydration salts.
We are tackling malnutrition with ready-to-use therapeutic foods that will reach 138,000 children under the age of five. We are providing water, sanitation and hygiene services to over 1.2 million people to reduce the spread of disease and infections.
We are also working on basic education in the camps including up to 200 child-friendly learning spaces, the repair of damaged schools and the provision of essential teaching and learning materials. We will ensure that 90,000 displaced people have improved access to adequate shelter, reducing the risk for children and families of violence, exploitation and abuse.
We urgently need funds to deliver this level of humanitarian assistance and reach the children with the greatest need. Some projects are in danger of being suspended because they do not have enough money. Despite having one of the worlds’s highest rates of malnutrition with 1 in 7 children not surviving past their fifth birthday, without enough funding many protection and education projects may have to be suspended.
How you can help