International Rescue Committee Expands 'Anticipatory Action Program' to Address Drought in Somalia

Drought Persists for Three Consecutive Rainy Seasons Across Northern Somalia
Funding Coverage for Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) Remains Below 25%
Minimizing Impact and Predicting Risks Through the "Anticipatory Action Program"

In April 2025, the International Rescue Committee is testing water facilities to be provided to drought-affected areas in the Mudug region of Somalia. International Rescue Committee

The International Rescue Committee (IRC), with Lee Eunyoung as the Korea Country Director, warned that the humanitarian crisis in Somalia is worsening due to the climate crisis. On November 27, the IRC announced that it would expand its "Anticipatory Action Program," focusing on the Mudug region in central Somalia, which has been most severely affected. This program aims to minimize the impact of the climate crisis by using data to predict risks and proactively implementing measures such as advance cash assistance, the provision of water and sanitation services, and malnutrition prevention efforts.

However, as of one month before the end of the year, the funding coverage for the 2025 Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) remains below 25%. Due to severe financial constraints, only about 1.57 million out of the 4.57 million people in need are currently receiving assistance. In response, the International Rescue Committee called on the international community to take immediate and concrete actions, including fully funding the HRP, disbursing anticipatory funding, and expanding access with a focus on vulnerable areas.

Abukar Mohamud, Deputy Director of the International Rescue Committee in Somalia, stated, "If there is no rainfall in the next 10 days, a very serious crisis could unfold." He added, "Somalia's resilience is already at its limit on the frontlines of the climate crisis, where floods and droughts repeatedly occur." He emphasized, "Early action and stable support from the international community are more urgently needed than ever to break this vicious cycle."

Across northern Somalia, an unprecedented drought has persisted for three consecutive rainy seasons, resulting in severe shortages of food and water. Recent rainfall analysis shows that repeated droughts during the rainy season have further worsened Somalia's already fragile food security. This has increased the likelihood of a full-scale emergency similar to the severe drought that pushed 30 million people in East Africa into a food crisis between 2020 and 2023. In reality, water depletion, pasture exhaustion, and increased livestock losses have led to the collapse of agriculture and livestock-based livelihoods across Somalia, and local communities' capacity to respond has reached its limits.

Somalia was ranked as the 10th most at-risk country globally in the "2025 World Crisis Watchlist." From 2021 to 2023, the country experienced the worst drought on record, and at the end of 2023, record-breaking floods left more than 700,000 people homeless, as the climate crisis continued to unfold.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.