Situation Report: Greater Horn of Africa Drought and Food Insecurity — 28 August 2022

Overview

• The Greater Horn of Africa Region continues to face a dire food insecurity crisis driven by several evolving factors such as extreme weather events (floods, droughts), conflict, the impact of the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic
• All countries in the region (Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, Djibouti, Uganda, and Ethiopia) are facing outbreaks of epidemic prone diseases
• Significant population movements continue as people seek food and water for themselves and their livestock.
• Substantial flooding in some countries (Sudan and South Sudan) as well as droughts in others (Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda) are limiting population’s access to safe water, further increasing the risk of epidemics.
• WHO is ramping up its response in all 7 affected countries through coordination of health sector partners, scaling up its support to countries to prepare for and respond to outbreaks, release of its Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE) to strengthen provision of emergency health and nutrition services to those most affected.
• The Global Health Cluster launched a cross-sectoral Helpdesk which provided national clusters with regular technical support and advice and advocated for united action to respond to different scenarios in the Horn of Africa and beyond.