MOGADISHU, May 27 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations relief agency has allocated 2 million U.S. dollars from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for an urgent response to the cholera outbreak in Somalia, the UN said on Monday.
The allocation is supporting UN agencies and their partners to provide lifesaving assistance to 60,000 people in critical health, water, sanitation and hygiene response in Puntland and Central Southern states, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
"It will not only save lives, but also mitigate the further spread of cholera to surrounding communities in Somalia," OCHA said in a statement issued in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 10,000 cholera cases and 120 deaths have been reported in seven states across the country since January.
The UN agency said the residual effects of the historic drought during the three-year La Nina event in 2023, combined with the impacts of the once-in-a-century floods induced by El Nino earlier this year, have fueled outbreaks of acute watery diarrhea and cholera in Somalia.
It said the current Gu (April to June) seasonal rains and flash floods are also expected to affect at least 770,000 people by the time the season ends.
"Damage to water sources, and water, sanitation and hygiene facilities is exacerbating the acute watery diarrhea and cholera outbreaks," it said.
The UN agency appealed for more funding to meet the current and rising needs due to climate shocks and other factors.
It said the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Somalia, which requires 1.6 billion dollars to respond to the needs of 5.2 million people, is only 20 percent funded.
Somalia has had uninterrupted acute watery diarrhea (AWD)/cholera transmission since 2022 and in the Banadir region since the 2017 drought, according to the WHO.
In 2023, more than 18,304 cumulative cases and 46 deaths were reported in Somalia, over half being children aged below five years. ■
