Brussels (Somalia Today) – The European Union on Thursday announced 63 million euros ($68 million) in emergency humanitarian funding for Somalia, warning that a toxic mix of drought, conflict, and global aid shortfalls is driving a fresh surge in hunger across the fragile Horn of Africa nation.
The funding comes as local authorities and United Nations agencies warn that conditions on the ground are rapidly deteriorating.
According to the latest food security data, 6.5 million people — roughly one in three Somalis — are projected to face crisis-level hunger or worse by the end of March.
The crisis is hitting children especially hard.
An estimated 1.85 million children under the age of five are expected to suffer acute malnutrition in 2026. Of those, nearly half a million are likely to become severely malnourished if authorities and aid groups do not launch immediate interventions.
“At a time when humanitarian programmes are severely affected by global aid cuts, the EU remains committed to providing emergency relief to the most vulnerable people in Somalia,” the European Commission’s humanitarian arm said in a statement.
The bloc said it will use the newly allocated funds to support immediate, life-saving interventions.
It will focus support on integrated health and nutrition services, including direct treatment for severe acute malnutrition.
The package will also fund emergency cash assistance, water and sanitation infrastructure, child protection, and emergency education.
Brussels confirmed that trusted humanitarian partners already operating in the country will channel all aid to help it reach the hardest-hit communities quickly.
Climate and conflict
Somalia is grappling with the fallout from repeated climate shocks.
The country declared a national drought emergency in late 2025 after consecutive rainy seasons failed to materialize.
The impact has since spread from devastated rural farming communities to densely populated urban displacement sites, especially around the capital, Mogadishu.
UN agencies and the Somali government have linked the worsening crisis to widespread crop failures and massive livestock losses.
As local agricultural production has collapsed, food and water prices have surged, pushing basic survival beyond the reach of destitute families.
A decades-long Islamist insurgency is making the climate emergency even worse.
Relentless fighting between Somali federal forces and Al-Shabaab militants continues to displace thousands of civilians, shatter local markets, and severely restrict humanitarian access to populations trapped in militant-controlled territories.
Aid squeeze
The EU announcement came as global leaders gathered for a high-level roundtable on Thursday.
Organisers convened the summit immediately after Mogadishu formally activated its “Food Security Crisis Preparedness Plan” to coordinate an emergency international response.
Yet Somalia’s worsening situation is colliding with a severe global contraction in humanitarian financing.
The UN-backed 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Somalia, launched in January, is seeking $852 million in funding.
The appeal aims to deliver life-saving aid to 2.4 million people, though an estimated 4.8 million Somalis need assistance this year.
With resources limited, the UN plan has had to ruthlessly prioritise the needs of 1.6 million people in 21 high-risk districts.
The funding squeeze is already causing devastating consequences on the ground.
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) warned last week that it may have to halt life-saving food and nutrition operations in Somalia by April unless it receives an immediate infusion of cash.
The agency said it has already slashed support, reaching just over 600,000 people, down from 2.2 million earlier in the year. It requires $95 million to maintain bare-minimum operations from March through August.
Shadow of 2011
Meteorological forecasts offer little hope of a swift recovery.
UN and aid officials say that even average rainfall during the upcoming April-to-June Gu season will likely bring only marginal relief.
Millions are expected to remain in crisis later this year as water shortages persist and mass displacement prevents farmers from planting crops.
For many humanitarians, the current trajectory feels alarmingly familiar.
The crisis has revived grim memories of earlier catastrophes in Somalia, where drought, conflict, and international funding gaps have repeatedly pushed communities over the edge.
The WFP says Somalia is at a very dangerous point, similar to 2022, when a large last-minute international response barely stopped a full famine.
Aid agencies continue to invoke the 2011 tragedy.
That year, famine in Somalia killed an estimated 250,000 people — half of them children under the age of five.
Many victims died before authorities formally declared famine, a failure humanitarians still cite as a stark warning against delayed international action today.
With the new allocation, total EU humanitarian aid to Somalia since 2017 now exceeds 750 million euros, cementing Brussels’ position as one of the country’s leading donors even as wider global financing tightens.
