In Somalia, MOAS is working to provide integrated interventions for nutritional aid, shipping therapeutic food supplies through the support of partners and devoted donors. An estimated 5.9 million people need humanitarian assistance in the country, with millions of Somalis dependent on outside support for their survival and livelihood.
The result of continual disasters include widespread malnutrition which has, in turn, led to the creation of over 2.6 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in their search food, survival and safety elsewhere.
For almost three decades, Somalia has been ravaged by ongoing conflict, political instability, and natural disasters such as droughts and famine. More than half the population lives below the poverty line. The humanitarian crisis in Somalia is one of the most prolonged and complex in the world. A combination of persistent insecurity caused by conflict, prolonged climate-related disasters, the Covid-19 pandemic, the conflict in Ukraine, and mass displacement, has unstablised the country.
An estimated 5.9 million people need humanitarian assistance in the country, with millions of Somalis dependent on outside support for their survival and livelihood.
Moreover, the COVID-19 outbreak and the consequences of the conflict in Ukraine have impacted the country. Access restrictions have reduced humanitarian capacity in support of the most vulnerable communities.
In response to the considerable need for humanitarian aid, MOAS decided to expand operations to contribute to the crisis.
In partnership with Edesia, which frequently collaborated with MOAS to coordinate nutritional aid deliveries to communities in crisis, we started regular shipments of the ready-to-use supplementary food Plumpy Sup, which is specially formulated to treat moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) in children aged six months and above. The treatment usually lasts between twelve to sixteen weeks, with one Plumpy’Sup™ sachet being distributed each day for every child. Considering that one in seven children under the age of five in Somalia are acutely malnourished, shipments such as this are vital for combating infant malnutrition and mortality in the country. These vital nutritional supplies are distributed by our local partner, International Medical Corps Somalia, to children aged between 6-59 months.
The delivery of supplies means a lot. MOAS donations help us support children when they are moderately malnourished, meaning fewer children will go on to suffer from severe malnutrition, and even fewer will die.
Naomi Mwikali, Nutrition Coordinator of International Medical Corps, Somalia