Somali region is experiencing one of the worst droughts in recent years

[africangear]

The Somali region is experiencing one of the worst droughts in recent years, resulting in food insecurity, water scarcity, and a negative impact on livelihood assets and livestock. Water scarcity is becoming increasingly severe as local dams and seasonal wells dry up, putting pastoralists in the region, particularly those in the southern zones such as Dawa, Liban, and Afdher, in a precarious humanitarian situation.

According to reports from the Dawa, Liban, and Afdheer zones, widespread livestock deaths and a large number of drought-induced internal displacements have occurred in many parts of these three zones, while the regional or federal government provides little or no assistance to drought-affected people.

Those displaced pastoralists frequently seek safe haven in urban areas, where they commonly build local temporary shelters on the outskirts of major cities, finding little or no relief in places of refuge that are already overburdened by the influx of needy people.

The spread of communicable diseases such as cholera and measles adds to the overcrowding of IDPs. Since December, there have been hundreds of reports of cases.

Severe drought for five seasons in a row, combined with the country's recent conflict and ongoing economic pressures, has resulted in an acute food crisis for more than 4 million people in the region.

If the rainy season fails over the next three months, it will be the region's sixth consecutive failed rainy season, and the HOA region could face the worst drought in at least 70 years.