Somalia suffered the most deaths due to extreme weather events and famine over the last three decades – says a state-wise analysis by SOMESHA in its State of Somalia’s Environment 2022: In feature Report in which was released recently by Rev. Daud Abdi Daud to mark the approaching World Environment Day on 2022.
The year had many more warning signs of the calamity that is confronting the nation, says the report which far-sighted the late news on Somalia’s extremism violence status and famine:
Commenting on what the report is trying to do, Rev. Daud Abdi Daud “Jourd”, managing editor and secretary general of SOMESHA, says: “This report is going to bring to you the state of Somalia’s environment, quantified. This year marks malicious death displacements both for climate change dillemas including famine and droughts and terrorism attacks. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the Stockholm conference, the UN’s first meeting on human environment. This report tries to do justice to both: by making an assessment of whether the promised ‘New India’ will come to pass (in the case of the former). And by documenting and analyzing (in the case of the latter) how the planet’s environment has been in the last 50 years.”
Al-Shabab, is an Islamist insurgent group based in Somalia. It once held sway over the capital of Mogadishu and large portions of the Somali countryside, but in recent years an African Union–led (AU) military campaign has pushed it back from major population centers. However, the insurgency remains the principal security challenge in war-torn Somalia, and continues to mount lethal attacks against Western and AU forces and civilians in the region. The United States has been helping Somalia fight al-Shabab militants for more than a two decade, but rights groups say increasing drone strikes are putting civilians at risk. Ahmed Umar, also known as Abu Ubaidah, is the current leader of al-Shabab. He was installed in 2014, after his predecessor, Ahmed Abdi Godane, was killed in a U.S. drone strike. Some experts believed Godane’s removal would prompt a power struggle, as Umar appeared to lack Godane’s strategic savvy, and was unlikely to maintain control of the fractious group. Yet, more recently, experts have said that al-Shabab remains a largely unified organization.
The US, President Biden has signed an order authorizing the military to once again deploy hundreds of Special Operations forces inside Somalia — largely reversing the decision by President Donald J. Trump to withdraw nearly all 700 ground troops who had been stationed there, according to four officials familiar with the matter. In addition, Mr. Biden has approved a Pentagon request for standing authority to target about a dozen suspected leaders of Al Shabab, the Somali terrorist group that is affiliated with Al Qaeda, three of the officials said. Since Mr. Biden took office, airstrikes have largely been limited to those meant to defend partner forces facing an immediate threat.
Since 2007, Somalia is hosting continuous bomb attacks, sporadic face to face attacks and suicides in across regions especially where Alshabab militants are controlling. Millions died while nearby dozen’s wounded.
On the humanitarian side, in across Somalia, the acute food insecurity in has drastically worsened since the beginning of 2022, with an estimated 4.8 million people experiencing Crisis or worse (IPC Phase 3 or higher) conditions (or 31% of the total population).
Standing in front of his makeshift home in a camp for internally displaced people (IDP) in southern Somalia’s Luuq district, Ahmad Hassan Yarrow looks out towards what remains of the Juba River and shakes his head forlornly.
“Of all the droughts I have experienced in my 70 years, I have not seen anything as severe as this,” he says as he contemplates the scenery before him. Yarow is one of hundreds of thousands of Somalis displaced by the country’s most recent and worsening drought, leaving their homes in the search for food, water and shelter.
The Luuq district, located in the Federal Member State of Jubaland’s Gedo region, is intersected by the Juba River. For more than three months now, the river’s waters have steadily dwindled, leaving only brown puddles.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Somalia is currently one of the most severely drought-impacted country in the Horn of Africa. Some 4.5 million Somalis are directly affected by the drought, and about 800,000 people have been displaced.
“A more than 300,000 children are facing acute malnutrition and nearby 800,000 Somalis have been displaced by the drought affecting most of Somalia regions in particularly Southern regions”said Somalia presdent H. E. Hassan Sheikh Mohamod while he is visiting last week in Baidoa, the worst region in Somalia by famine.
“I visited the Baidoa city internal displaced camps, the people in the camp have been severely affected by the drought and indeed saddened but I also pledged to take action and work closely with all partners to address the drought effectively”. The president added
The Somali Media for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture (SOMESHA) is the lead agency responsible for identifying and reporting on environmental issues in Somalia. In addition, SOMESHA provided support to other agencies need to obtain ground reports for Somalia’s agriculture, food security and environmental as well as fishing industry.
For more details or interview you can be reached Rev. Daud Abdi Daud of SOMESHA at dimbil@someshaa.org or visit our website at www.someshaa.org