Mogadishu (Somalia Today) — Somalia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ali Omar said the government is adjusting to a tougher funding climate after Washington reduced foreign assistance.
He argued that the United States still has strategic reasons to stay engaged in Somalia, particularly through counterterrorism cooperation against Al-Shabaab and an Islamic State affiliate.
“We acknowledge this shift and are trying to adapt to it,” Ali Omar said in interview with Al-Majalla. He added that U.S. aid reductions extend beyond Somalia and reflect a broader reassessment of foreign assistance.
Somalia now faces several pressures. It is working to maintain security gains, prepare for an upcoming election cycle, and respond to recurring humanitarian challenges such as drought, flooding, displacement, and food insecurity.
Aid squeeze
Over the past year, Washington has tightened its foreign assistance policy, subjecting many programmes to review, pauses, or restructuring.
In Somalia, those changes have disrupted parts of the aid architecture that have long supported humanitarian relief and development services.
In early January 2026, the U.S. State Department announced a freeze on assistance to Somalia’s federal government after accusing Somali officials of damaging a donor-supported World Food Programme facility and diverting aid supplies.
Somali authorities rejected the allegation, stating that the assistance remained under UN custody.
The policy shift has increased pressure on Somalia’s humanitarian response. Aid agencies have adjusted programming as resources contracted, focusing on the most acute needs. This has resulted in gaps in food assistance and essential services in communities affected by these changes.
Somalia remains highly dependent on external support. Recurrent climate shocks and conflict continue to drive acute hunger and displacement, and any disruption to aid flows quickly reverberates through households and local markets.
Aid reductions have also complicated longer-term recovery efforts. When programmes contract, communities lose services, local implementing partners lose operating capacity, and progress in health, education, and basic infrastructure becomes harder to sustain.
Somalia’s government, meanwhile, must cover larger shares of core functions with limited domestic revenue.
Omar praised previous U.S. support for state-building and the security sector. He said Somali institutions are now preparing for a period of tighter external financing while trying to protect critical programmes.
Security partnership
Omar also rejected claims that the persistence of Al-Shabaab and Islamic State-linked militants proves Somalia has failed to make progress.
He argued that the state has improved since the collapse of central authority in 1991 and that militants no longer dominate large swathes of the country as they once did.
U.S. military cooperation with Somali and partner forces has continued, including coordinated operations intended to disrupt Al-Shabaab’s capabilities.
U.S. assessments have described Al-Shabaab as a key Al-Qaeda affiliate and have highlighted the growing relevance of Somalia’s Islamic State cell within the group’s wider network.
Omar said Somalia wants to preserve security cooperation even as aid policies change. “There may be a change in the way things used to be,” he said, “but I wouldn’t read this as America losing interest.”
