Save the Children and local partners to reach almost 245,000 displaced and drought-hit people with health, food, water, protection and learning, with a fresh EUR 2 million from the European Union.
MOGADISHU, 24 June 2026 – Save the Children and three Somali partners are scaling up a EUR 7 million effort to keep children alive in seven of the country's hardest-hit districts, after a fresh EUR 2 million from the European Union extended the project into a second year just as drought drives more families from their homes.
The funding, provided by the European Union’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO), will sustain health, nutrition, water, sanitation, protection and education services for almost 245,000 people in Afmadow, Baidoa, Beletweyne (including Mahas and Mataban), Ceel Buur, Galkayo North, Kismayo and Luuq. More than half of those reached are women and girls, and more than half are children.
The additional funding comes at a time of severe need. Six million people, nearly one in three Somalis, are facing crisis levels of hunger or worse between April and June this year, including close to 1.9 million in emergency conditions, according to the latest analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). Almost 1.9 million children are expected to suffer acute malnutrition during 2026, around 493,000 of them severely. In Burhakaba, a district in Bay region neighbouring the project's operations in Baidoa, conditions have deteriorated so far that the area is now at risk of famine.
This year's Gu rains came late and have fallen well below average, deepening the crisis rather than easing it. Around 3.4 million people are already displaced inside Somalia, and a further 304,000 are expected to be forced from their homes between April and June by drought, flooding and conflict. Aid is reaching only a fraction of those who need it: across the country, humanitarian food assistance covers around one in eight of the six million people in crisis.
Through this project, mobile teams and supported health facilities will treat sick and malnourished children, screen and refer the most severe cases, and reach pregnant and breastfeeding women with specialized care. Clean water, latrines, and hygiene supplies will help prevent cholera and other waterborne diseases from spreading quickly in crowded displacement sites. Out-of-school and displaced children will be helped back into safe, inclusive learning, and children at risk will be identified and supported through community protection systems.
Mohamed Abdulkadir Said, Save the Children's Acting Country Director in Somalia, said:
"Across these eight districts, families have walked for days to reach water that is no longer available in their communities, and children are arriving in our clinics already dangerously malnourished. This support from the European Union means a mother can have her child screened and treated, a family can drink clean water, and a girl who fled with nothing can sit in a classroom again.
"Rain alone cannot rebuild what years of drought have destroyed. As funding for Somalia falls away, this commitment from the EU is both timely and deeply welcome. We urge other donors to follow suit, because the next few months will decide whether thousands of children pull through."
Save the Children is delivering the project alongside its local partners WASDA, WARDI and DEH, whose long presence in these communities allows the work to reach areas that are otherwise difficult to access. The organisations are coordinating health, nutrition, water, protection and education services so that a child identified in one can be referred quickly to the others.
Save the Children has been working in Somalia since 1951, delivering life-saving health, nutrition, education and protection services.
ENDS
About EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid
The European Union and its Member States are among the world's leading donors of humanitarian aid. Relief assistance is an expression of European solidarity with people in need all around the world. It aims to save lives, prevent and alleviate human suffering, and safeguard the integrity and human dignity of populations affected by disasters and human-induced crises. Through the Directorate General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations of the European Commission, the European Union helps millions of victims of conflict and disasters every year. With headquarters in Brussels and a global network of field offices, the EU provides assistance to the most vulnerable people on the basis of humanitarian needs.
Notes to Editors:
The project, "Improving Access to Integrated Life-Saving Health, Nutrition, WASH, Protection, and Quality Education Services for Vulnerable IDPs and Host Communities in Somalia", is funded by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) and runs for 24 months from April 2025. The total value of the action is approximately EUR 7 million, of which a fresh EUR 2 million has been provided under the latest extension. It is implemented by Save the Children with WASDA, WARDI and DEH across seven districts: Afmadow, Baidoa, Beletweyne (including Mahas and Mataban), Ceel Buur, Galkayo North, Kismayo and Luuq.
The action targets almost 245,000 direct participants, the majority of them women, girls and children.
Humanitarian figures are drawn from the IPC Acute Food Insecurity and Acute Malnutrition Analysis, Somalia, April to June 2026 projection update (issued 14 May 2026): six million people in IPC Phase 3 or above, close to 1.9 million of them in Emergency; 1.88 million children facing acute malnutrition in 2026, around 493,000 of them severely; and Burhakaba district, Bay region, assessed as at risk of famine. An estimated 3.4 million people are displaced, with a further 304,000 displacements projected for April to June 2026. The 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan requires USD 852 million and remains heavily underfunded.
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For further enquiries please contact:
Mohamed Abdinasir Jama, Head of Communications and Media, Save the Children in Somalia
Email: mohamed.jama1@savethechildren.org
