Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
The World Food Programme (WFP) reports that drought, conflict, and significant funding shortages are driving millions in Somalia into food insecurity. Approximately 6.5 million people are now experiencing crisis-level hunger or worse—nearly double the number from a year ago. Among them, about two million face emergency levels of food insecurity, and over 1.8 million children are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year.
While Somalia is somewhat better equipped than during the 2022 drought, humanitarian agencies note that funding shortages are forcing major aid reductions. The WFP, which provides nearly 90% of Somalia's food assistance, has delivered emergency cash to 380,000 drought-affected individuals through government-supported social protection systems. However, the agency now reaches only one in ten people urgently in need. Emergency food aid has been halted in several districts, and nutritional support for pregnant and breastfeeding women has been scaled back.
In the Gaza Strip, ongoing airstrikes, shelling, and gunfire have severely worsened conditions. Aid agencies, including the UNRWA, warn that children in overcrowded tents are being bitten by rats during sleep, increasing disease risk amid repeated displacement, lack of clean water, and broken sanitation. UNRWA is working with the World Health Organization and local partners to monitor the rise in skin infections and rodent infestations.
To address hygiene concerns, UNRWA and partners are distributing more hygiene kits, but there is urgent need for additional tents, insecticides, and medications, compounded by delayed aid deliveries. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) emphasizes the need for sanitation workers to remove waste from displacement sites and residential areas to landfills. However, access to Gaza's two sanitary landfills is restricted, and local waste disposal has shifted to marketplaces, causing trash buildup exceeding four flights of stairs. Movement restrictions and limits on critical imports are hindering restoration of essential services.