Mr. Mohamud Moalin Director, Somalia Disaster Management Authority (SoDMA) Distinguished participants, Honorable leaders of Galmudug State, Representatives of government institutions, development partners, humanitarian organizations, elders, youth, ladies and gentlemen,
First of all, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all participants of this Heritage Conference and to thank the leadership of Galmudug State for their continued cooperation and commitment to the well-being of our people. I also extend gratitude to our humanitarian partners, donors, and civil society organizations who stand with Somalia during difficult times.
Today, I stand before you to raise a serious humanitarian alert.
The situation in our country is alarming. Over 200 water wells have dried up due to prolonged drought. Currently, more than 4 million people are internally displaced, and over 200,000 newly displaced families have arrived in Mogadishu and other towns across the country in search of survival.
The impact on education and children is devastating. More than 200,000 students have dropped out of school, and nearly 2 million children are facing acute malnutrition. These numbers are not just statistics they represent real lives, real families, and a future at risk.
The situation facing Somalia today is different and more complex than before. At this critical moment, we must turn our eyes toward humanitarian problems rather than political challenges. Hunger, drought, and displacement do not wait for political solutions.
Compounding this crisis, major funding cuts, including reductions by USAID, have significantly affected humanitarian operations. Despite these challenges, SoDMA has remained proactive.
On 10 December 2025, during the Humanitarian Aid Conference held in Jowhar, SoDMA officially announced this looming emergency. Since then, we have conducted extensive outreach and advocacy to mobilize support for the affected populations.
So far, we have secured 20 million US dollars from donors. In addition, the World Bank emergency program will allocate funds through the national treasury to support urgent humanitarian response efforts.
At the same time, we are coordinating with Islamic charity organizations to support dry food distribution in the most affected regions. Organizations such as Qatar Charity, King Bin Salman Relief, and others have already started distributions in remote rural areas identified as having the highest alarm levels.
Furthermore, through joint efforts with UN agencies, we have secured more than 10 million US dollars, which will be coordinated jointly by OCHA and SoDMA to ensure effective and transparent response.
We have also submitted an updated situation report and action plan to the Office of the Prime Minister, outlining priority needs and response strategies. The Federal Government has begun coordinating national funds for emergency humanitarian response, and we call upon all Somali people, institutions, businesses, and participants of this conference to contribute and stand with their fellow citizens.
Ladies and gentlemen,
All indicators show a new disaster wave approaching. The rainy seasons have failed, water sources are drying up, and communities are losing their coping capacity. We cannot afford to ignore these warnings.
We all remember the 2011 famine, which claimed the lives of over a quarter of a million people. Although 2 billion US dollars in aid was eventually mobilized, it came too late.
In 2022, imminent starvation was successfully prevented through strong cooperation between the Somali Government, the Somali Humanitarian Envoy, and SoDMA. This proves that early action saves lives.
However, failure to respond to current warnings and alerts will result in a disaster worse than 2011, where hundreds of thousands could perish deaths that are entirely preventable with timely response.