Friday January 12, 2018
FILE - Mohamed Aden Guleid looks at one of his camels on which succumbed to drought in Somaliland region of Somalia, Feb. 9, 2017. (VOA/Jason Patinkin)
Mogadishu (HOL) - The United Nations has announced that their agencies working in Somalia will launch the 2018 Humanitarian Response Plan on January 17th which details the priorities for humanitarian response in the country.
The UN Office for Coordinating of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday that a large-scale famine was averted last year by the beefed-up humanitarian response from generous donors.
"However, with growing and increasingly severe humanitarian needs, indications are that the effects of the prolonged drought will extend into 2018," OCHA said.
The UN warns that "with a below average Deyr season (October – December) and a long-term forecast of a below-average Gu season from April to June 2018, the prospects for improved food production remain grim."
There are nearly 6.2 million people are still in need of humanitarian assistance and the UN says food security needs are nearly double the five-year average, with an estimated 2.44 million people in crisis and 866,000 in emergency throughout Somalia.