• Over 1 million people forced from their homes

• 3.4 million people in need of emergency help

• Up to 1 in 4 people are malnourished

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 over 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 estimated that there are currently 3.4 million people (nearly half the population) in Somalia who require urgent life-saving assistance as they do not have access to enough food. 

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; 42 camps (hosting nearly 105,000 people) are now receiving regular clean water and adequate sanitation facilities including latrines and bathing cubicles.

Oxfam’s response in pictures

Down in southern Somalia, a deepening rural crisis is affecting more and more people, and rates of malnutrition are above the 'emergency' threshold. We are working through partners to stabilise water supplies, health, and livelihoods with a combination of support measures.

These include paying people to clear the silt from traditional rainwater catchment ponds in time for the rainy season, and restoring worn out water pumps in community wells. We have distributed jerry cans for household water storage, and have been running hygiene campaigns about the risks of dirty water and poor sanitation. We are helping 108,000 people in the Lower Juba area of Somalia.

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

Press release: Somalia's rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis

October 2008