The wars in Ukraine and Gaza have made the international community forget the prolonged droughts that have affected Somalia for several years now, with the result that it is lagging behind in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Germany wants to remain a reliable ally for this East African country in terms of resilience. Accordingly, the German development agency (KfW) recently announced a €30 million package.
This financial support will “improve the resilience of households and local communities to economic and climatic shocks”. The initiative, supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), will benefit 1 million people in the districts of North Galkayo and Galdogob in the northern state of Puntland, and the districts of Dhuusamarreeb and South Galkayo in the central state of Galmudug.
Resilience to achieve the MDGs
The 30 million euros will be used specifically to finance access to inclusive and adapted education (ODD4) for children, and water and sanitation in schools (ODD6) in targeted areas. But priority will be given to food security (ODD2) in partnership with the World Food Program (WFP), which will offer its technical expertise to diversify agricultural production and increase farmers’ incomes.
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Indeed, extreme heat jeopardizes livelihoods (dried-up harvests and collapse of biodiversity) and exacerbates acute malnutrition in this country in the Horn of Africa. In 2022, this situation even caused the displacement of 17,000 Somalis “in search of water, food or pasture for their livestock”, according to the United Nations. Earlier in 2021, the organization released $52 million via its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to combat global warming and hunger in Somalia.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi