• 1 million people forced from their homes

• 2.6 million people in need of emergency help

• Malnutrition levels between 18-24 per cent

Since the beginning of 2007, 700,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Mogadishu, arriving in areas to which aid agencies often have little or no access. There are now one million internally displaced people in Somalia and approximately two million people in need of humanitarian assistance. 

Rising food prices are badly affecting the population, and in most parts of the country, malnutrition rates are beyond the emergency threshold levels set by the UN. The price of imported rice, for example, rose by 350 per cent in several markets between January and May 2008.

In pictures: Return to Somalia

When you see the families on the move, they don’t carry much. They just take the essentials. They arrive in the camps and just drop. Teachers, engineers, health workers, builders. They’re all here.

Mohamed Dahir, Director of Oxfam partner, HIJRA

Learn more

• Situation overview
• Oxfam’s response

Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991 when factions overthrew President Said Barre then fought for political and military supremacy.

Since then Somalia has seen 17 years of periodic conflict between rival factions, which has led to massive displacements of people and severe disruptions to the economy. A prominent Somali human rights group estimates that 6,501 civilians were killed in 2007 in Mogadishu.

In pictures: Emergency in Somalia

The conflict, combined with cycles of drought and flooding across Somalia, has had a catastrophic impact on the ordinary citizens of Somalia, creating enormous needs amongst rural and displaced communities.

Hyperinflation has pushed the price of food and other goods to record highs, making the availability of food a serious problem, especially for internally displaced and poor people living in urban areas.

It is estminated that there are currently 2.6 million people in Somalia who require urgent life-saving assistance as they do not have access to enough food.  The situation is likely to deteriorate in the coming months with up to 3.5 million facing a humanitarian emergency.

Learn more about Oxfam’s response

Despite severely restricted access to Somalia, Oxfam is working with local partner organisations to provide vital assistance to half a million people across south and central Somalia.  We are currently providing the largest emergency water response in the region and supporting a pioneering programme providing hot meals to more than 50,000 people in Mogadishu every day.

We are continuing to extend the water system for the displaced residents of Mogadishu; 25 camps (hosting nearly 105,000 people) are now receiving regular clean water, and we are building a second elevated platform to situate more water tanks so we can link up other camps. In the southern Gedo region, we trucked water supplies to tide people over until the arrival of rains, benefiting nearly 34,000 people in 17 camps. 

Oxfam’s response in pictures

We are also carrying out life-saving relief programmes, providing cash to internally displaced people and the host communities to which they have fled, to promote sustainable livelihoods. 

We provide essential non-food items such as plastic sheeting, jerry cans and soap to people who need them and we support a wide range of capacity building programmes – working with local Somali organisations to provide them with the tools to make a positive contribution to their own country’s future. 

Like in other emergencies, Oxfam is also actively engaged in regional and international lobbying and advocacy work around Somalia.

Oxfam and nearly 40 other non-government organisations have issued an unprecedented public statement highlighting that, whilst humanitarian needs continue to rise in Somalia, access is becoming more and more difficult, meaning they are unable to respond adequately to the crisis. Oxfam is calling for all parties in the conflict to fulfil their responsibility to protect civilians as well as for increased humanitarian assistance to the people affected.

June 2008