STORY:The UN appeals for US$1.

6 billion for life

saving assistance to over five million people in
Somalia
TRT: 2:45
SOURCE: UNSOM PUBLIC INFORMATION
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INFORMATION
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NATURAL SOUND
DATELINE: 17/JANUARY/2018, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

SHOT LIST
1. Wide shot, Arrival of Somali Prime Minister H.E Hassan Ali Khaire
and UN Resident Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Peter De
Clercq
2. Med shot, Somali Prime Minister H.E Hassan Ali Khaire and UN
Resident Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Peter De Clercq
seated after arriving at the function
3. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) PETER DE CLERCQ, HUMANITARIAN
COORDINATOR FOR SOMALIA
“2018 Humanitarian Response Plan requires all of us to sustain
our efforts. By November last year food security needs had nearly
doubled the five-year average with an estimated 2.4 million
people in crisis, and 866 thousand in emergency, that is one step
away from famine. The number of Somalis on the brink of famine
has grown tenfold since this time last year. And that is a very
important figure. 6.2 million people require humanitarian
assistance, over half of whom are children. Of those, more than
3.3 million people need urgent life-saving assistance. As always,
children are the most vulnerable. We estimate that by end of this
year, 1.2 million children could be malnourished”.

4. Med shot, participants listening during the Humanitarian

Response Plan launch
5. Close up shot, Peter De Clercq, UN Resident Humanitarian
Coordinator for Somalia, listening
6. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) H.E HASSAN ALI KHAIRE, SOMALI PRIME
MINISTER
 “It would be (however) unfair not to recognize and profoundly
thank our donors who provided record levels of funding in 2017.
Approaching nearly US$1.3 billion, as the humanitarian
coordinator said earlier, this unprecedented level of funding
towards famine prevention, the largest humanitarian response
contributed towards the history of our country saved millions of
lives and we are very grateful to the donors”.

7. Med shot, participants applaud during the function

8. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) JUSTIN BRADY, HEAD OF UNOCHA HEAD
IN SOMALIA
9. “Obviously there are a large number of people in areas that are
inaccessible to the partners that are working under this plan, but
we will try to reach as many as we can. As has been mentioned, a
number of partners, especially our local NGO partners, have
assumed a great deal of risk to themselves in trying to extend out
as far as possible to meet the needs of people beyond the urban
areas where we have access, and that has led to abductions and
other harm to humanitarian actors”.

10.Med shot, participants applauding after the remarks

11.Med shot, Prime Minister H.E Hassan Ali Khaire and UN Resident
Humanitarian Coordinator, Peter De Clercq leave the venue
UN: $1.6 billion needed for life-saving aid for more than five million people in drought-
affected Somalia

Mogadishu, 17 January 2018 – With low levels of rain expected for the fifth consecutive rainy
season, the United Nations is appealing for $1.6 billion to provide life-saving aid to 5.4 million
people affected by the ongoing drought in Somalia.

“The number of Somalis on the brink of famine has grown tenfold since this time last year,” the UN
Secretary General’s Deputy Special Representative for Somalia and UN Resident and
Humanitarian Coordinator, Peter de Clercq, said today at the formal launch of the appeal.

The appeal is contained within the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ (OCHA)
2018 Humanitarian Response Plan for Somalia. It also states that the number of Somalis in need
of assistance is currently estimated at 6.2 million – or more than half of the country’s population.
About 3.3 million of those people require urgent intervention, and one million are living in
settlements for internally displaced persons.

“As always, children are the most vulnerable,” Mr. de Clercq said. “We estimate that by end of this
year, 1.2 million children could be malnourished.”

In 2017, Somalia averted a famine through the combined efforts of the Federal Government, the
UN and international donors, who together helped to mobilize $1.3 billion in humanitarian aid for
the country.

However, Mr. de Clercq stated that continuing projections of below average rainfall for this year
require another major humanitarian aid campaign on behalf of the people of Somalia.
Drought conditions in the Horn of Africa country have persisted throughout the last four
consecutive rainy seasons, worsening the already-dire humanitarian situation in the country. Last
year’s October to December rainy season started late and yielded below average levels of
precipitation. A forecast for this year indicates a similar pattern during the next rainy season, which
begins in April and ends in June.

“By November last year, food security needs nearly doubled to a five-year average with an
estimated 2.4 million people in crisis (conditions), and 866,000 in emergency (conditions),” Mr. de
Clercq said.

Wide-ranging aims in response plan

The 2018 Humanitarian Response Plan aims to reduce acute malnutrition, reinforce the provision
of protection services to affected communities, and strengthen resilience levels among the
population. Vulnerable communities have fled the parched countryside and moved to urban areas
in massive numbers in the past 12 months, due to the drought and insecurity caused by armed
conflict.

The plan was endorsed by Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire, who noted that Somalia had made
significant progress on several fronts in the past year, thanks in part to international support.

In his remarks at the event, Prime Minister Khaire highlighted economic reforms, greater political
inclusivity, peacebuilding and reconciliation efforts, and security sector reforms among areas of
progress realized in the past year.

“It would be unfair not to recognize and profoundly thank our donors who provided record levels of
funding in 2017 approaching nearly $1.3 billion,” he noted. The Prime Minister also stated that the
unprecedented funding helped to avert a devastating humanitarian crisis in Somalia and
represented the largest amount of money ever contributed towards humanitarian response in the
history of the country.

The head of OCHA’s Somalia office, Justin Brady, flagged that this year’s humanitarian effort
would also target large numbers of people in areas that are mostly inaccessible on account of
prevailing security conditions.

“A number of our partners, especially our local non-governmental organization partners, have
assumed a great deal of risk to themselves in trying to meet the needs of people beyond the urban
areas where we have access. That has led to abductions and other harm to humanitarian actors,”
Brady said, adding, “There are a large number of people in areas that are inaccessible to these
partners, but we will try to reach as many as we can.”