Situation Report: Greater Horn of Africa Food Insecurity and Health - Grade 3 Emergency— 10 October 2022

Overview

• The drought in the Greater Horn of Africa (GHoA) is predicted to continue into the late annual rainy season. For the first time in 40 years, four consecutive seasons of below-normal rains have been recorded in the GHoA countries.
  
• The continued deterioration of the nutrition situation in the GHoA is driving an increase of Severe Acute Malnutrition admissions.
• Food insecurity compounded by rising food prices continues to negatively impact the quality of diets and the rate of malnutrition relapse in the GHoA countries
• Trends in new admissions of acute malnourished cases among U5 children in nutrition programs in refugee sites and nutrition screening among new arrivals indicate critical levels of global acute malnutrition (above 15% of emergency) and acute food insecurity with further deterioration likely in 2023.
• Famine (IPC Phase 5) is projected among agropastoral populations in Baidoa and Burhakaba districts and displaced people in Baidoa town of Bay region in southern Somalia, where malnutrition and mortality levels are already very high.
• Emerging threats include Ebola disease caused by the Sudan virus –currently reported in Uganda, and other epidemic-prone diseases including measles, monkeypox, and cholera.
• WHO continues to provide support through coordinating the work of health sector partners, scaling up its support to countries to detect, prepare for and respond to disease outbreaks, to strengthen the provision of emergency health and nutrition services for those most affected. WHO is deploying funds, personnel, technical expertise and supplies
• Donors continue to provide financial support. However, as of 10 October, only 28% of the 123.8M WHO appeal for 2022 has been funded, with additional 5% pledged. Continued humanitarian assistance will be required to address the high needs beyond December 2022 - and a rapid identification of additional funding and resources is now needed to mitigate morbidity and mortality.