The UN is drastically cutting aid to Somalia due to global funding reductions from key donors like the United States.
Somalia’s original $1.4 billion aid plan aimed to support 4.6 million people. Now, only $367 million is available for 1.3 million.
UN officials warn that millions left out of the new plan face hunger, displacement, and disease amid Somalia’s ongoing crisis and instability.
“This doesn’t reflect a drop in need,” said UN spokesperson Stéphanie Tremblay. “It reflects how much less we can now afford.”
Food, water, health care, education, and protection services will all be scaled back, putting already vulnerable communities in even greater danger.
Foreign assistance has been a lifeline for millions in Somalia due to drought, conflict, and a fragile political situation.
The UN says this is part of a global trend, with humanitarian programs worldwide shrinking due to steep drops in donor funding.
Tremblay said aid workers are being forced to choose between priorities, knowing millions won’t get the help they urgently need to survive.
Donors are being urged to step up immediately before the crisis worsens and Somalia faces yet another preventable humanitarian catastrophe.
Without urgent funding, the UN warns that Somalia could slip deeper into disaster — one the world may later regret ignoring.
