Somalia
Somalia is one of the poorest countries in the world. Life expectancy is just 47 years. Many of the country's 4 million children are malnourished, and many die from preventable illnesses such as malaria and diarrhoea.
- We're supporting health clinics that have provided healthcare to 54,475 children
- We're reducing malnutrition among 20,160 vulnerable children
- We're educating 38,531 children in primary schools
- We've reached 20,500 people affected by increased fighting
Save the Children in Somalia/Somaliland
We've been working in Somalia for more than 40 years. During this time we've focused on improving access to basic healthcare and education for the poorest and most vulnerable children and families and enabling them to get enough food. Last year, our education, health and nutrition work benefited more than 213,000 children.
We’re improving children’s health
More than half of all child deaths are due to diarrhoeal diseases, respiratory infections and malaria. The main underlying causes of diarrhoea are lack of access to clean water, inadequate diet and poor hygiene. Cholera claims hundreds of lives each year. Health posts and centres in rural areas are barely functioning or non-existent.
We’ve helped build and renovate clinics and trained community health workers to staff them. We've provided access to healthcare for 10,000 children under 15. And we regularly provide medical supplies to 15 health facilities, including surgical kits and obstetric and blood screening equipment. We’ve trained 40 community health workers and supplement the salaries of medical staff, including two consultants — a gynaecologist and a surgeon.
We’ve also provided healthcare for 1,442 children and 214 pregnant women in pastoralist communities through ‘child health days’.
We’re improving children’s food intake
In many areas, drought, floods or outbreaks of disease occur year after year, destroying crops and livelihoods, and limiting people’s ability to grow enough food. The last two years have seen poor harvests and drought interspersed with floods, and children’s malnutrition has reached critical levels. Rising food prices have made the situation worse.
Last year, in Karkar and Hiran, more than 30,000 children benefited from our food security and livelihoods programme.
We’re helping children get an education
Schools and education systems in Somalia/Somaliland were completely destroyed during the fighting and civil war that followed the 1991 coup. In 2006/07, only 30% of primary schoolage children in Somalia and Somaliland were enrolled, and only 17% of adults are literate.
In the last year, our work has benefited nearly 110,000 children in Somaliland, Puntland and Hiran. We’re renovating schools to improve facilities, including providing separate toilets for girls.
We're also improving the quality of teaching by training 3,294 teachers (including 600 female teachers) in Somaliland and Puntland. In Somaliland, 1,952 teachers were able to sit their national exam in 2008, including 336 teachers in remote rural areas. And in Hiran, 203 teachers have enrolled for in-service training, including 40 women.
We’re helping children and families affected by conflict
In 2007, increased fighting in south and central Somalia and in the capital, Mogadishu, forced many people to leave their homes. We provided plastic sheeting, blankets, mosquito nets, sleeping mats, cooking pots and other household equipment for 2,000 displaced families. We also built latrines with septic tanks to improve sanitation and reduce the risk of cholera and diarrhoea.
For more detailed information about our work in Somalia
- Download the latest Somalia country brief (PDF 77KB)
- Download the Cash for Work briefing (PDF 176KB)
Somalia related news stories
- Wednesday 26 March 2008 Somalia crisis deteriorates
- Statement comes as UN Security Council members meet to discuss Somalia.
- Monday 16 July 2007 Fleeing Somalia's conflict
- We are helping thousands of families who have been affected by the ongoing conflict in Somalia and the flooding last year in north eastern Somalia and Kenya.
- Wednesday 6 June 2007 Up to 70,000 people at risk due to cholera outbreak in Somaliland
- Save the Children is working to contain a cholera outbreak in Somaliland. Over 600 cases of cholera, including eight cholera-related deaths, have been reported in the Togdheer region in the north of the country over the past two weeks.
- Friday 12 January 2007 Somalia and Kenya emergency
- Escalating violence and severe flooding causing crisis.
