Conflict in Somalia

A country already affected by 17 years of conflict

Intense fighting, compounded by food and water shortages, has provoked a major humanitarian catastrophe in Somalia, a country already affected by 17 years of conflict.

The situation

Somalia has been wracked by years of factional fighting that has seen massive displacements of people and severe disruptions to the economy.

Since the start of 2007, 745,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Mogadishu for areas to which aid agencies often have no access and which are themselves suffering severe food and water shortages. An estimated 20,000 continue to flee the capital every month.

There are now one million displaced people in Somalia and two million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

Malnutrition rates are high, a situation made worse by rampant inflation and cycles of drought and flooding.

Oxfam is there

Despite severe access difficulties, Oxfam International and its local Somali partner organizations are providing vital assistance to half a million people in South and Central Somalia.

This help includes the largest emergency water response in the region and a pioneering program to provide hot meals to 50,000 people in Mogadishu every day.

We also provide cash to internally displaced people and host communities to promote sustainable livelihoods, as well as calling for all parties in the conflict to fulfill their responsibility to protect civilians and allow access to humanitarian agencies.