Horn of Africa: Hunger emergency far from over

With the Horn of Africa facing the combined impacts of a historic drought, conflict and economic shocks, donors at a United Nations-backed pledging event today announced US$2.4 billion to provide life-saving and life-sustaining assistance for nearly 32 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia facing hunger. However, the humanitarian community requires $7 billion for humanitarian aid and protection for drought- and conflict-affected people this year.

Today’s pledges were made at a high-level donor event held in New York, co-hosted by the United Nations, Italy, Qatar, the United Kingdom and the United States, in collaboration with the Governments of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today that the official declaration of famine in the Horn of Africa has been averted, thanks in part to the efforts of local communities, humanitarian organizations and government authorities, as well as the support of international donors.

But the emergency is far from over, and additional resources are urgently required to prevent a return to the worst-case scenario.

Speaking at the event, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres noted that crisis atop of crisis is threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions across the region. 

"We urgently need funding for the 2023 Humanitarian Response Plans for the region. To date, they are just close to 20 percent funded, and that is not acceptable", he said.

The compound effects of years of crisis mean that over 43 million people int the Horn of Africa region need humanitarian assistance, including over 32 million people facing high levels of acute food insecurity. More than 7 million children under the age of 5 remain malnourished and are in need of urgent nutrition support, and over 1.9 million children are at risk of dying from severe malnutrition.

Guterres went on to warn that, without an immediate and major injection of funding, emergency operations will grind to a halt, and people will die. He added that people in the Horn of Africa are paying an unconscionable price for a climate crisis they did nothing to cause. 

The Horn of Africa is the epicenter of one of the world’s worst climate emergencies. An estimated 43,000 people died in 2022 in Somalia, most likely due to the drought, half of whom may have been children under age 5. Millions remain displaced because of drought as well as conflict.

Today’s event was held as improved rains are starting to ease the impacts of the drought, but they also bring new risks and challenges. Floods have already caused widespread damage and affected at least 900,000 people.

The longest drought in recorded history has given way to rains and flash flooding. More flooding is expected later this year, partly due to the forecasted El Niño phenomenon, potentially leading to further displacement, death and disease. Despite the relief brought by the rains, it will take years to recover from the historic drought.

According to OCHA, more than 30 million people received assistance in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia in the face of five consecutive poor rainy seasons, the longest drought in recorded history.

The funds announced today will allow humanitarian agencies to sustain aid pipelines of food, water, health care, nutrition and protection services. 

“We welcome the announcements of support for the people of the Horn of Africa, who need our sustained commitment to recover from a crisis of catastrophic proportions,” said Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator.

In response to the pledges made at the donor event, the international humanitarian organization Oxfam International said today it was “deeply disappointed by today’s donors’ dismally inadequate pledges to East Africa’s crisis; a protracted crisis which continues to be woefully underfunded.”

"Donors pledged just a fraction of the total needed $7 billion – and most of those pledges ($2.4 billion) announced today were hardly new", Fati N’Zi Hassane, Oxfam in Africa Director said.

“This was a vital moment for rich donors to step up and show their commitment to saving lives. They have failed millions of people caught up in this vicious spiral of hunger, displacement, and insecurity.”

Hassane added the needed funds were a lifeline for millions of people struggling with hunger, skyrocketing inflation and poverty. But insufficient funding meant impossible choices would have to be made that would leave out millions in urgent need.

In a separate statement, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned today that food and energy prices remained stubbornly high and the impact of the conflict in Sudan reverberated around the region, while millions of people in the Horn of Africa were trapped in a hunger emergency.

“Conflict, climate extremes and economic shocks: the Horn of Africa region is facing multiple crises simultaneously. After five consecutive failed rainy seasons, flooding has replaced drought, killing livestock, damaging farmland, and further shattering livelihoods,” said Michael Dunford, WFP Regional Director for Eastern Africa. 

“And now the outbreak of conflict in Sudan is forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.”

WFP warned it will take years for the region to recover. However, limited humanitarian resources are being stretched further still by the conflict in Sudan, which has sent over 300,000 people fleeing into neighboring countries such as Ethiopia and South Sudan, where food insecurity is already desperately high.  Humanitarian needs in Sudan are at record levels, with some 24.7 million people requiring humanitarian assistance – more than half of Sudan’s population.

In drought-hit Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, WFP and other aid agencies launched a rapid scale up of life-saving assistance in 2022 which helped to keep famine at bay in Somalia. But now WFP is facing a funding crunch and is being forced to scale back assistance.

“WFP’s rapid expansion of life-saving assistance helped prevent famine in Somalia in 2022. But despite the emergency being far from over, funding shortfalls are already forcing us to reduce assistance to those who still desperately need it” Dunford said.

By the end of 2022, WFP was distributing food assistance to a record 4.7 million people in Somalia. But in April, funding shortfalls forced WFP to reduce this to 3 million people. Without additional funds, the UN agency will have to further reduce the emergency food assistance caseload in Somalia to just 1.8 million by July, meaning that almost 3 million people will not receive support, despite their continuing needs.

Further information

Full text: With 32 million people struggling from drought and conflict, donors at UN-backed event announce US$2.4 billion to support people in the Horn of Africa, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, press release, published May 24, 2023
https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/32-million-people-struggling-drought-and-conflict-donors-un-backed-event-announce-us24-billion-support-people-horn-africa

Full text: Pledges made at East Africa Pledging Conference “dismally inadequate” - Oxfam reaction, Oxfam International, press release, published May 24, 2023
https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/pledges-made-east-africa-pledging-conference-dismally-inadequate-oxfam-reaction

Full text: Hunger emergency far from over in crisis hit Horn of Africa, World Food Programme (WFP), press release, published May 24, 2023
https://www.wfp.org/news/hunger-emergency-far-over-crisis-hit-horn-africa