Somalia Emergency

Urgent Appeal:

Donate now and help save the lives of Somali refugees

The Horn of Africa Emergency is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today. UNHCR continues its operations to save lives and provide assistance in the countries of the region.

UNHCR urgently needs your help to support our existing refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia, and to establish new ones to provide shelter, food, water and protection for thousands of new refugees fleeing drought and war in Somalia.

UNHCR is assisting around 850,000 Somali refugees in neighboring countries and is significantly scaling up its distribution of emergency assistance packages in a bid to reach at least 400,000 people by mid-September.

In Dadaab refugee complex in Kenya, Somali refugees continue to arrive every day. In addition to malnutrition, overcrowding of the camps is a major problem. Originally built for 90,000 refugees, Dadaab is now home to some 440,000 people. The increasingly poor health state of new Somali arrivals in Ethiopia is a major concern, with close to 20 per cent of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

In Somalia thousands of desperate people arrive in Mogadishu every day seeking help after fleeing famine stricken regions. UNHCR is enhancing its staff presence in Dollow and Dobley near the border, as well as in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

You can make a difference!

Updated 5 September, 2011