Health worker during house-to-house visits in camp for internally displaced people, Kismayo. Credit: WHO/Somalia
MOGADISHU, 20 August 2023 –The World Health Organization (WHO) country office of Somalia alongside the Government of Somalia, UN sister agencies and other partners marked World Humanitarian Day on 19 August 2023 under the global theme of “No Matter What”.
This occasion commemorates the day in 2003 when 22 of the United Nations colleagues lost their lives in an attack on the United Nations compound in Baghdad, Iraq. Since then, the humanitarian community across the world has been remembering the fallen heroes and showing their unwavering commitment to meeting the needs of the most under-served and marginalized communities during conflicts, climatic shocks and health emergencies.
With over half the population of Somalia (8.3 million people) in need of humanitarian assistance[1] and approximately 6.6 million people facing acute food insecurity[2], reaching out to these vulnerable populations with humanitarian aid including health services is crucial. Somalia has faced one of the most severe droughts in its history: 7.8 million have been affected and 1.4 million have been forced from their homes in search of food, water and health care.[3]
“WHO exists to save lives and ensure that every woman, man and child has access to health care – no matter what. Since the beginning of the drought, WHO has been racing against time to save the lives of the most vulnerable in Somalia and, with our humanitarian partners, have successfully pushed famine back. This would not be possible without the dedicated, skilled humanitarians that we work with every day,” said WHO Representative Dr Mamunur Rahman Malik. “With millions impacted by the ongoing drought, disease outbreaks and insecurity, our staff and partners, particularly front-line health care workers, are working in the most difficult circumstances to respond to multiple emergencies at the same time. They do this because of their commitment, dedication and the belief that together we can make a difference. Together, we will continue to serve the people of Somalia, no matter what,” he contended.
WHO Somalia is maintaining 3 warehouses across the country to maintain and sustain provision of life-saving health services across the country. Credit: WHO/Somalia
Since 2022, WHO Somalia has stepped up its integrated response to provide essential lifesaving health and nutrition services, to enhance community-based surveillance to detect and respond to disease outbreaks in a timely manner, and to improve coordination with all partners. WHO-deployed community health workers and outreach teams have brought healt hcare services directly to those who need them the most. Community health workers in towns and villages impacted by drought, as well as camps for internally displaced people, have screened children for malnutrition, referring the most severe cases to stabilization centres, which WHO has supported with essential supplies and capacity-building. At the same time, the threat of violence and terror attacks remains and WHO has been working with international experts, like UK-MED, to build the capacity of Somali first responders to offer lifesaving trauma care.
Besides meeting the immediate humanitarian needs of the local populations, WHO is also working to build the resilience of the health system to respond to future shocks and better meet the needs of the populations it serves. In partnership with the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders, WHO is conducting capacity-building, providing essential supplies, and in some cases upgrading and solarizing entire health facilities. In this way, the WHO country office is working across the development-humanitarian-peacebuilding nexus, to support the health system and infrastructure of Somalia for now and for years to come.
WHO Somalia is grateful to the donors and partners who have supported this work, including ECHO, FIND, the governments of Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom, donors contributing to the Central Emergency Relief Fund and WHO’s Contingency Fund for Emergencies.
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For additional information, please contact:
Kyle DeFreitas
External Relations Officer
Fouzia Bano
Communications Officer
Related links
Please see the links below for additional information on WHO Somalia’s humanitarian work:
An overview of Drought situation in Somalia: Drought Video wr 2023 (1) | WHO Somalia | Flickr
[1] https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-humanitarian-response-plan-february-2023
[2] https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-ipc-food-security-nutrition-snapshot-march-june-2023-published-april-25-2023
[3] https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-drought-response-and-famine-prevention-15-november-15-december-2022
