Report: 15 years since devastating famine, Somalia faces new disaster – drought without aid

Families in Somalia are confronting a new catastrophe, with hunger and humanitarian needs soaring, a worsening drought, and aid levels at unprecedented lows, said Save the Children.

In a new report, When Aid Disappears, Childhood Disappears Too, Save the Children reveals how the collapse of international aid funding to Somalia in 2025 may soon lead to catastrophic outcomes for children not seen since the 2011 famine, which killed over 257,000 people [1].  

Early in 2025, projections estimated that 3.4 million people were facing crisis-level food insecurity. A year later, this figure has almost doubled with a projection of 6.5 million people — a jump directly correlated with massive cuts in international funding as well as the predicted poor October-December 2025 rains. 

Meanwhile, in 2024, Somalia’s Humanitarian Response Plan was 57.7% funded, which, while still below overall needs, was sufficient to sustain critical programmes. In 2025, coverage fell to just 28.8%. Now, in April 2026, only around 15% of the response plan is funded – the lowest level on record at this time of the year.  

As a result, food and nutrition services have been heavily reduced – including the closure of more than 300 nutrition facilities across the country, which are critical for treating child hunger and malnutrition – and preventive programmes have been significantly scaled back. 

Without immediate funding, more treatment centres will close, supply chains will be disrupted, and children in need of care will be turned away. At the same time, conflict in the Middle East risks further strain on global supply chains, increasing the likelihood of delays and shortages. 

The report also reveals that while Somalia’s children have grown up under the shadow of repeated crisis – such as the famine of 2011, recurrent droughts, conflict, and disease outbreaks – families have also shown extraordinary resilience. This includes sharing resources, improvising to meet basic needs, and supporting one another even when formal aid has been delayed, insufficient, or absent. The report confirms that while Somali families endure with remarkable strength, sustained external support is essential to prevent avoidable suffering and protect the next generation. 

Save the Children’s Country Director for Somalia, Mohamud Mohamed Hassan, said:  

“What we are seeing is not a slow deterioration, but a preventable crisis unfolding right now. In Somalia, the crisis is the result of a dire combination of protracted conflict and accelerating climate shocks, compounded by the decision to cut aid to record low levels in 2025. That choice was not inevitable; it had predictable, deadly consequences. Fifteen years of experience in Somalia show what happens when funding changes: when aid is scaled up, lives are saved; when it disappears, so do childhoods. 

“Drawing on lessons from the past 15 years, this report warns that current funding cuts risk reversing hard-won progress, including gains in immunisation and reductions in child mortality. Without immediate additional funding, more treatment centres will close, supply chains will break, and children who could have been saved will simply be turned away. Funding must return now — to protect children, prevent the crisis from worsening, and uphold the principle of “never again”. 

Fazia*, 15, attends a Save the Children-supported school in Baidoa. She has benefitted from humanitarian aid, but is concerned about the future:  

“Before, education was not something I thought about. My life has changed significantly. I used to feel uneducated and unaware, but now I have access to free education. 

“Now water is scarce, and the drought is extreme. Livestock are dying due to lack of water. Food has also become scarce, and the drought has deeply affected us.  

“For the past three years, we have been struggling with hunger.”  

Save the Children is calling on the international community to urgently increase humanitarian funding to meet the needs of over 6.5 million people requiring assistance, prioritise support for nutrition and health programs to prevent child deaths, invest in education to give children the skills they need now and into the future,  invest in longer-term resilience programming, and ensure aid reaches the most affected populations. 

Save the Children has been working in Somalia since 1951, delivering life-saving health, nutrition, education and protection services. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Save the Children.