The Suffering of Somalia

Almost two decades after the overthrow of President Siad Barre, Somalia remains a failed state with little prospect of a meaningful peace on the horizon. Sporadic outbursts of violence have caused hundreds of thousands of people to leave their homes and seek shelter in other parts of the country or flee to neighbouring or nearby states, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. In recent years tens of thousands have risked their lives by making the dangerous Gulf of Aden crossing from northern Somalia to Yemen. Hundreds die each year during the voyage.

The UN refugee agency and other international humanitarian organizations find it virtually impossible to work in the south-central part of the country, including the capital, Mogadishu, because of the lawlessness and anarchy. They rely on local partners, but these are themselves coming under increasing pressure as they try to help the victims of one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world today.

Since Somalia began imploding in 1991, more than half-a-million people have fled overseas, putting enormous pressure on neighbouring countries, especially Kenya, Ethiopia and Yemen. A further 1.4 million people are internally displaced, most of them in the volatile south-central region.

Half of the population living in Somalia is in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, one in every five children is acutely malnourished and less than 100,000 of the country's internally displaced children attend primary school.

The general insecurity, including regular outbreaks of fighting and the murder and abduction of humanitarian workers, has made it more and more difficult for relief agencies to access those in need. As a consequence, the vulnerable are not getting access to adequate water, food, health care, education and shelter.

UNHCR works to help displaced Somalis inside and outside the country. In asylum countries, UNHCR supports governments in providing international protection to the refugees and to meet their basic needs. Inside Somalia, UNHCR coordinates all protection activities and interventions to provide shelter and relief items.