SITUATION OVERVIEW
The combined impact of the initial, and potentially complete, failure of the 2019 Gu’ (April-June) rains, which followed a poor 2018 Deyr season (October-December), and abnormally hot, dry conditions during the 2019 Jilaal (January-March) season has caused widespread crop failure and accelerated decline in livestock productivity, rapidly pushing communities in the worst-affected areas into food insecurity crisis phase or worse. An estimated 5.4 million Somalis are now projected to be food insecure by July; of these, at least 2.2 million are likely to be acutely food insecure. A spike in drought-induced displacement continues as rural communities flee to urban areas – nearly 45, 000 people have moved so far this year. Severe acute malnutrition rates among children are increasing rapidly, mainly among IDPs. Humanitarian partners are finalizing a Drought Response Plan to mobilize resources and boost the response in the most severely-affected areas between now and December. A $45.7 million SHF/CERF allocation has enabled the scale-up of drought response in targeted northern, central and southern areas hardest-hit by drought. However, critical clusters such as WASH, health, nutrition and food assistance remain critically under-funded.