Hunger Crisis Response Regional Summary #13

Paper author:

HECA

Paper publication date:

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

The Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan for 2023 (HRP) was launched on 8 February 2023. The HRP estimates that 8.25 million people will require humanitarian assistance. The plan also confirms that prolonged drought, conflict, high food and water prices and displacement are driving the country to the brink of famine.
The plan is accompanied by the 2023 Somalia Humanitarian Needs Overview, which highlights that over 6.3 million Somalis are expected to face high levels of food insecurity between January and March 2023, including 322,000 in catastrophic food insecurity. Projections also confirm that hunger will increase between April and June 2023, with over one in two (or 8.3 million) Somalis facing acute food insecurity. In addition, 1.8 million children under five will likely face acute malnutrition through June, including over 513,000 who are expected to be severely malnourished.
The HRP and HNO also confirm the IPC's projections that in the absence of sufficient funding and enhanced capacity, famine is likely between April and June 2023 and beyond in the following areas: Baidoa and Burhakaba Rural districts as well as IDPs in Baidoa and Mogadishu.
Even if no famine emerges in Somalia, the situation is highly alarming. The HNO is clear that the cumulative levels of excess mortality could be as high as in 2011, when almost 260,000 people lost their lives, at least half of them children. In 2022 alone, 1,049 children died in nutrition centres and many more without even accessing the centres.
The Humanitarian Response Plan for Ethiopia is also expected to be launched in late February 2023 or early March 2023. Sources indicate that early projections show that over 28 million people will need one or more forms of humanitarian assistance in 2023