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Somalia recorded the highest number over the past three years at 1.2 million displaced people, compared to 884,000 in 2018 and 770,000 in 2019. In total, more than 2.6 million people are internally displaced all of whom continue to face serious risks of marginalization, forced eviction and exclusion. While IDPs are disproportionately affected by the crisis, the majority of those in need in Somalia are not displaced, including 4.8 million vulnerable non-IDPs. This is largely due to the impact of decades of recurrent climate shocks, armed conflict, and political and socio-economic factors that continue to drive needs in the country, with nearly seven out of 10 Somalis living in poverty. Due to the security situation in Yemen and Ethiopia, it is expected that Somalia will continue to receive refugees and asylum seekers. Over 28,000 refugees and asylum seekers are projected to require assistance and support in 2021. Other factors, such as gender, age and disability, add to the level of vulnerability, risks and barriers faced. As such, they need to be considered in the humanitarian response.

2.3 Humanitarian Conditions, Severity, and People in Need

Households across all of Somalia remain in deep need, with many struggling to achieve the essential services and resources necessary to meet the basic requirements of life. Many displaced and non-displaced Somali households face complex, co-occurring, overlapping humanitarian needs that are mutually compounding and need to be addressed in tandem. The Joint Multi-Cluster Needs Assessment (JMCNA) 2020 found that roughly over half of all households reported at least two overlapping severe, critical or catastrophic sectorial needs, underscoring the need for inter-sectorial, integrated responses.

Huge food and nutrition gaps remain, particularly among poor agro pastoral, marginalized and urban communities, where many vulnerable persons can be classified as, or are in danger of being pushed into, the most severe phases of food and nutrition insecurity. For HNO planning, the Food Security Cluster is using an average projection of 3.5 million Somalis facing Crisis (IPC Phase 3) and Emergency (IPC Phase 4) food security conditions through 2021. It is of particular concern that children constitute over 60 per cent of those in need in Somalia, and malnutrition rates among children remain among the worst in the world. Close to 1 million children in Somalia are estimated to be acutely malnourished, including 162,000 under 5 suffering from life-threatening severe malnutrition.

Significant gaps exist in Somalia’s health sector, exacerbated by COVID-19, which poses serious concern considering the high level of vulnerability across the country. Access to healthcare remains very limited, particularly in rural areas, resulting in some of the worst health outcomes in the world. Last year, Somalia experienced outbreaks of measles, Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD) and cholera, and vaccine-derived polio. In addition, Female