Qatar Fund for Development, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the British Embassy in Mogadishu have partnered to provide a $10.5 million drought assistance and resilience program to Somalia. The program will be implemented through the Building Resilient Communities in Somalia (BRCiS) consortium and will expand on the famine prevention and resilience initiatives made in 2021-2022 by all three parties.
The new partnership aims to provide life-saving services and boost recovery efforts over the next six months. The program will be a significant boost to the ongoing efforts to address the severe drought that has affected over 6.6 million people in Somalia, exacerbating an already fragile situation in the country that has been marred by violence and displacement.
According to Mike Nithavrianakis, British envoy to Somalia, “This is significant, but humanitarian aid alone cannot address the crisis. That is why the UK is reinforcing BRCiS’ response through continued collaboration with the US and Qatar.”
Under the umbrella of BRCiS, this partnership will be the first time that investments from Qatar, the UK, and the US will be included, guaranteeing the ongoing provision of multi-sector humanitarian aid, immediate cash support for the purchase of food, and resilience-building programs to ensure communities remain protected.
Abdullah bin Salim AlmNaimi, Qatar’s ambassador to Somalia, highlighted the impact of the drought crisis on the humanitarian situation in Somalia due to the coronavirus pandemic. “This affected millions and has increased the threat of famine, displacement, food insecurity, and severe malnutrition among children, which imposes on everyone without exception,” he said.
The program is expected to provide 330,000 individuals with access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene materials, and 175,000 people with lifesaving health and nutrition services. The partnership’s efforts are a significant development towards addressing the severe drought situation in Somalia, and it is hoped that it will bring much-needed relief to the affected people in the country.
