The government of Somaliland is steadfast in providing humanitarian assistance to the people affected by the severe drought in the country, although the United Nations and international NGOs in the country, the international community, and local businessmen were absent and have not yet responded to government appeal and sent drought relief assistance; except for the United Arab Emirates which brought donations.
On January 13, the government issued a droproclaimed that there was a severe drought. Vice President Abdirahman Sayli’i declared that 800,000 families were at risk of food insecurity. It appealed to the international community, the United Nations, international and local NGOs, businesses and the general public to come to the aid of those affected by the drought.
Although a month passed, when the government issued the alarm, the Somaliland folks hasn’t yet heard from anyone who has responded to the government’s call, whether it is the United Nations, international agencies or the country’s business community, except for a businessman, Jama Omar, owner of Omar company, who donated fodder and water to Sool and Togdheer regions.
OCHA, WFP, and other international organizations that have met with Somaliland officials, the National Drought Relief Committee and the Disaster Preparedness Agency have not yet responded to the calls. Here is the time table of the government, the National Drought Relief Committee and the Disaster Preparedness Agency meeting with various agencies and stakeholders and the days when the people of the eastern regions distributed food aid.
The 87th Session of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Somaliland held on 10 February, and chaired by the President of the Republic of Somaliland, HE Muse Bihi Abdi, and accompanied by the Vice President of Somaliland, HE Abdirahman Abdirahman Abdillahi Ismail (Saylici) discussed on a number of issues related to the security situation, widespread drought and other important issues.
The cabinet discussed extensively on the drought situation in the country, with the president already announcing a committee led by the vice president and including intellectuals, and their interventions is going well, in the right places.
“As things stand, it is agreed that as a government, we must be prepared for this, with the help of God and all those involved, the people of Somaliland and the pious people”, the council of the cabinet had said.
The Chairman of the National Disaster Preparedness and Food Security Agency, Mr. Faisal Ali, met with the FAO / FSNAU officials on 10 February in a collation of the post-Autumn-rains data situation in the country.
The exhibition was attended by international organizations and government agencies, with some officials attending directly in person, while others attended online.
On 9th February, The President of the Republic of Somaliland, H.E. Muse Bihi Abdi, with the Vice President of Somaliland, Chairman of the National Drought Relief Committee, HE Abdirahman Abdillahi Ismail (Saylici) and other members of the committee held a meeting with some of the resident foreign ambassadors in the Somaliland capital in Hargeisa.
The focus of the meeting was on how ambassadors can play a key role in responding to the widespread drought in some regions of Somaliland, in order to save the lives of people and animals affected by the drought.
The National Disaster Preparedness & Food Security Agency and the National Drought Relief Committee on 07 February gave the first food distribution through teams in the Eastern Regions to distribute food rations to those affected by the drought and initially headed for the Sanaag region.
The distribution of food aid in Sanaag region, which is planned for the first phase of food distribution, has started on 08 February, according to NADFOR’s coordinator of Arab countries Mr. Mustafe to reach 3,400 families, with each family receiving 25 kilograms of rice, flour, sugar, 5 liters of oil and 4 kilograms of dates, for the first face of the distributions.
The Sanaag Regional drought committee thanked the Government, the National Drought Relief Committee and the Disaster Preparedness Agency for their support to the people of Sanaag region, and said that they would begin the distribution of the assistance with the people from southern Somalia who reached in the region.
The Chairman of the National Disaster Preparedness and Food Security Agency, Faisal Ali Sheikh, then has launched the second phase of Drought Relief in Sool and Togdheer regions on 9 February.
The National Drought Relief Committee in collaboration with NADFOR has started food distribution to 3,300 families in the TOGDHEER region and SOOL region each.
Below are some of the areas Drought relief food donations the in Togdheer region have been delivered:
- White Wild 35 Families
- Bali-Hagar 35 Families
- Bali-Hirsi 20 Families
- Reply to 150 Families
- Keep warm 40 Families
- Geel-Didis 50 Families
- Bali Mumin 40 Families
- Apply 40 Families
- Ina Idifle 40 Families
- Yaylay 40 Families
- Ismaacii Diiriye 70 Families
- Abdi Dheere 100 Families
The food aid was delivered to the most vulnerable. Drought relief food rations have so far reached 10,000 families in the three regions of Eastern Somaliland, Sanaag, Sool, Togdheer and its environs.
On 2 February, NADFOR Chairman Faisal Ali chaired a meeting of International, United Nations, and Local Agencies to Discuss Drought Situation, Ongoing Response, and How to Coordinate Relief and Relief to Drought Affected People.
The meeting exchanged information on Government Emergency Operations and Institutional Planning. The meeting took place online
The Chairman of NADFOR Mr. Faisal Ali Sheikh met with a delegation led by the Head of WFP in Somaliland & Somalia Mr. El-Khidir Daloum on January 31st, and discussed a number of key issues, including:
- Strengthen the close collaboration between NADFOR and WFP.
- They also discussed the current drought situation in the country and how to address it.
- Drought response plan in Somaliland and how NADFOR and WFP can work together.
The National Disaster Preparedness and Food Security Agency (NADFOR) on January 29th received a donation of food aid from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the presence of members.
The Deputy Chairman of the National Disaster Preparedness and Food Security Agency, Mr. Faisal Jama Hawte, thanked the UAE government, saying that the UAE government had responded to the call from the Somaliland government regarding the drought in Somaliland.
The Director of the Aid and Aid Department, Mr. Mustafe Abdillahi Hashi, also spoke and said that there is good cooperation between the Republic of Somaliland and the Government of the United Arab Emirates.
The Vice President of the Republic of Somaliland, who is also the Chairman of the Somaliland Drought Relief Committee, met on January 24 with officials from international and local organizations in Somaliland to discuss ways to work together on drought relief plans affected in Somaliland.
The Vice President of the Republic of Somaliland, and Chairman of the Somaliland Drought Relief Committee, HE Abdirahman Abdillahi Ismail (Saylici), on 17 January met with members of the Committee and officials from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The meeting is a prelude to a large-scale meeting next week between the Drought Relief Committee and all heads of non-governmental organizations operating in Somaliland the Suffering from Drought
Drought Relief Committee announces widespread drought situation in the country
On 13th January, The National Drought Relief Committee of the Republic of Somaliland officially declared a severe drought situation in the country, affecting 810,000 (Eight Hundred Thousand) people.
The committee, which was earlier appointed by the President of the Republic of Somaliland, Mr. Muse Bihi Abdi, and chaired by the Vice President of Somaliland, Mr. Abdirahman Abdillahi Ismail (Saylici), announced at a press conference, There is a severe drought situation in the regions and districts of the country, and they issued a press statement detailing the extent of the drought and the measures planned by the committee and the calls they are sending, as follows:
“Following the sporadic spring rains in parts of the country, and the failure of the autumn rains, there is clear evidence of drought in the country.
“Based on the NADFOR Preliminary Report on the Drought Situation, at the 83rd Session of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Somaliland, the President of the Republic of Somaliland, HE Muse Bihi Abdi, appointed a Drought Relief Committee to assess the situation and formulate a response plan.
“The National Drought Committee (NDRC) has launched a series of initiatives to address the issue of drought relief in Somalia.
- The deployment of a technical committee comprising of the member states of the Drought Committee and NADFOR which has studied the drought situation in the country as a whole and prepared a comprehensive report on the drought situation in the country.
- Rehabilitation and salvaging of 41 boreholes, which are located in areas of water scarcity, particularly in the Bari region.
- Government trucks started water trucking in Togdheer, Sanaag, Sool and Maroodijeex regions
- NADFOR has prepared food stocks for the drought affected people.
“Following the report of the drought situation, I declare that there is a drought situation in the country that has affected all regions of the country such as: Sool, Sanag, Togdheer, Sahil, the Marodijex area, and the coast of Awdal region.
The drought impact assessment has directly affected 810,000 people in need of emergency assistance such as water, food and medical care, and is also expected to affect approximately 1,200,450 people over the next coming four months.
To address this situation, the government has allocated $ 3,000,000 (Three Million Dollars) for food, water trucking and rehabilitation of damaged wells.
I urge the regional drought relief committees to be prepared to play their part in addressing the current drought situation.
“I also call on the Somaliland business community, the Somaliland diaspora, the international community (UN, INGO’s and LNGO’s), international governments and Somaliland’s partners to play a role in assisting and rescuing those affected by the drought, prior the situation worsens.
“I call on the people of Somaliland to join hands, help each other, and work for their own good, and pray to God to lessen us from the drought and to help us through disease and tragedy.
“Therefore, from today, I would like to inform you that anyone who wants to respond the drought in the country must contact and report to the National Drought Relief Committee”.
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