In response to the recent cholera epidemic in Somalia, the United Nations announced the allocation of 2 million dollars from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the United Nations’ central emergency response fund – also supported by Italy .
The residual effects of the historic drought crisis during the 3-year La Niña event, combined with the impacts of the once-in-a-century floods induced by El Niño earlier this year, have fueled outbreaks of acute watery diarrhea (AWD) and cholera in Somalia. WHO reports that registered cases are almost three times as high than the three-year average. As of 1 April, 6,605 cases including 75 deaths were reported. The national case fatality rate (CFR) is 1.1%, but some districts are showing CFRs above 4% – far beyond the WHO’s 1% emergency threshold.
With the onset of the Gu rains in early April, there is a high risk that the outbreak will spread to regions that have not been affected for years. This CERF allocation supports life-saving assistance to 60,000 people. The health response includes investigation, surveillance, case management, testing, risk communication, vaccinations, and provision of supplies. The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) response includes constructing, rehabilitating, and upgrading infrastructure, infection prevention and control, providing supplies for treatment centers, and distributing cholera kits.
Since its establishment, Italian Cooperation has invested in CERF according to the annual budget availability from the portion dedicated to humanitarian aid. In light of growing global humanitarian needs, since 2016, Italian support to the United Nations fund has been steadily increasing. In 2022, Italy reached (for the first time since the establishment of CERF) 9th place among the Fund’s donors, with over 17 million dollars. In 2023, the disbursement of 15 million euros allowed to position itself in the group of the main 10 donors of the Fund which currently sees the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Canada, USA, Belgium and Italy.