- In Brief
Somalia
![](/typo3temp/pics/330e8c903d.jpg "Fatuma Shidad Mursal, her husband Mohamud and their nine children are originally from Mogadishu but constant, heavy fighting forced them to move home several times. Today, they live in Beyra, Central Somalia. "The only thing I came with was my household items and very little cereals," remembers Fatuma. "When we arrived, we did not know where to start and how to cope with our new environment." Photo IRC/Abdirahman Aden")
![](/typo3temp/pics/a7eae0d5b8.jpg "A woman leans against a shelter made out of sticks, scraps of plastic and cardboard, and other scavenged materials. Many camps like this one have no toilets - people have to use the surrounding shrub - and this has led to women being attacked when they leave the camp's safety. The IRC is therefore building latrines in some of the largest camps. One mother said: "This is what we have been waiting for. If it is true, it's the end to rape of vulnerable women." More latrines will also help to reduce the spread of diseases associated with poor sanitation. Photo IRC/Maria Ali")
![](/typo3temp/pics/5d6bfeaf1a.jpg ""The people of Somalia are fighting a combination of devastating factors all at once, including conflict, recurrent drought, livestock disease and high food prices," says the IRC's livelihood programme manager Abdirahman Aden, pictured left. "Many pastoralists have seen their entire livestock herds wiped out, which has forced them to move into towns and cities in desperate search of other means of income and food." Photo IRC/Abdikarim Hassan")
![](/typo3temp/pics/23a6467878.jpg "The IRC is therefore supporting pastoralist communities in central Somalia with a range of initiatives, including cash for work schemes and livestock redistribution. Nuro Hassan who lives in Beyra, Mudug region, received four goats from the IRC, two of which have already given birth. Nuro says: "I have stopped buying milk from the market. My goats now produce enough milk for tea and some for my young baby." Photo IRC/Mohamed Gorod")
Conflict, drought and rising food prices are combining to create a severe humanitarian crisis in Somalia. Ongoing fighting between the transitional government and insurgents has displaced more than 1 million people and left at least 35% of the population in need of emergency food aid.
The International Rescue Committee is responding to the rapidly deteriorating situation by providing urgent water and sanitation for tens of thousands of displaced people and the communities now hosting them.
We are currently focusing on the Mudug Region, Central Somalia, where thousands have fled from the Mogadishu area. Since late 2007, the IRC has been providing clean, accessible drinking water to displaced people and local communities by rehabilitating hand-dug wells in busy locations. We have also been supporting safe sanitation, promoting hygiene and improving livelihoods through water programmes for livestock.
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