Somali Red Crescent activates early action protocol for ‘spreading drought’
By the Climate Centre
The Somali Red Crescent has now activated the early action protocol for drought that was published by the IFRC last August.
After an analysis of the latest data from specialists of the ICPAC and IPC agencies, the Red Crescent has begun implementing early actions for some 30,000 people at risk in the Togdheer, Sool, Bari and Mudug regions.
These will include cash transfers, rehabilitation of water facilities, and early warning messages; the EAP budget is nearly 400,000 Swiss francs, from IFRC-DREF’s anticipatory pillar, with a planned implementation period of three months.
The Somali Red Crescent consulted widely in the development process leading up to the finalization of the drought EAP, activated on 31 January, including both external stakeholders and internal workshops with its branches and senior management.
Technical support centred on assessment, triggers, forecasting and information management was provided by the Heidelberg Institute for Geoinformation Technology, the German Red Cross, and the Climate Centre.
‘Dire conditions’
This EAP’s overall purpose is to mitigate the cascading impacts of drought such as water scarcity and food insecurity by providing vulnerable people with early warning information (photo), multi-purpose cash, and rehabilitation of water infrastructure; its target population groups are pastoral farmers and IDPs.
During the last 20 years, in addition to drought Somalia has experienced the full range of serious shocks: floods, cyclones, locust invasions, the 2004 tsunami, and conflict.
“Among these shocks, drought is the most high-impact natural hazard in terms of the number of people affected. Recurrent droughts have become the new norm, occurring consecutively with devastating results on human life,” the IFRC says in the protocol text.
In its January monthly update for Somalia, OCHA said that “[f]ollowing the poor performance of the October to December 2024 rains and the current hot and dry conditions, drought [is] spreading, escalating already dire conditions in several areas.”
The government and its humanitarian partners have launched a US$ 1.42 billion humanitarian response plan to assist 4.6 million people out of just under 6 million who have been assessed as in need of assistance this year.
Somali Red Crescent early actions in Somalia over the next few weeks will include early warning and cash grants for communities facing the latest chapter in the country’s long history of drought emergencies. (Photo: SRC)