Access to new resource related to emergency response/disaster recovery added to PMWL
Resource provided by Grace Chebet
21 May 2020 – Kisumu, Kenya – Access to a new resource has been added to the PM World Library (PMWL) related to emergency response/disaster recovery, in this case droughts. The new resource is titled “Somalia drought impact and needs assessment”, a report by the Federal government of Somalia’s Ministry of Planning published by the United Nations Development Program in 2017.
Somalia is one of the poorest countries in the world with a per capita GDP of USD 450 in 2016 and a poverty headcount of 51.6%. It’s a country that is emerging from decades-long civil war that has ravaged the country since 1991. Apart from the cycles of conflict, the country is also at a high risk of natural hazards, notably drought, desertification and floods. Cyclical droughts in Horn of Africa will continue to drive high levels of need in Somalia if urgent investments aren’t made in strengthening resilience to future disasters and effectively preventing the risk of famine in a sustainable manner. Somalia has made tremendous progress in recent years in the establishment of permanent political institutions and significant improvement in security paving the way towards a future with greater peace and stability. However, with the numerous consecutive poor rainy seasons, the humanitarian situation has deteriorated to a point where half of the population is in need of assistance, jeopardizing critical gains made in recent years. With damages amounting to USD 1.02 billion and losses estimated at USD 2.23 billion, the total effect of the drought in 2017 was expected to exceed USD 3.25 billion according to the report.
The majority of displaced persons are women and children meaning women in the country are more disadvantaged than men. The overall impact of the drought in Somalia has taken a toll on the affected population in terms of basic living conditions, as well as sanitation and basic healthcare services. The country had the lowest HDI in the world in 2010 standing at 0.285 and it’s likely that the trend will worsen. Somalia also has one of the highest rates of infant mortality in the world. Somalia has also been unable to meet the debt obligations since the 1980s with an external debt of USD 51 billion. A multi-sectorial approach has been used to identify key development policies to prevent the recurrence of cyclical famine risk, tied to an associated financing framework, structured within Somalia’s National Development Plan.
To access this new resource, go to the Solving Global Problems section of the library at https://pmworldlibrary.net/solving-global-problems/, scroll down and click on Droughts, scroll down to resource. Free access, but please consider registering for the Free Trial Membership.
This new resource provided through the PMWL university research internship program; to learn more, click here
