Hunger Crisis in Somalia: Children in Urgent Need
Children in Somalia are facing one of the country’s most severe hunger crises in years. Recurrent climate shocks, including the expected impacts of El Niño, are driving the crisis alongside conflict, displacement and high food prices, and heavy rains now threaten flooding across central and southern Somalia. At the same time, severe funding shortfalls are reducing the food, health and nutrition services available to children.
An estimated 6 million people are facing acute food insecurity at Crisis level or worse. About 1.9 million children are projected to need treatment for acute malnutrition in 2026, including 493,000 children with severe acute malnutrition.
6M
People facing acute food insecurity
1.88M
Children projected to need treatment for acute malnutrition
493K
Children projected to face severe acute malnutrition
Save the Children's Response in Somalia
Save the Children has worked in Somalia since 1951. In 2025, our Somalia Country Office reached more than 3.4 million people, including 1.9 million children. We provide integrated health, nutrition, water, education and protection, working directly and with local partners to reach children and families in areas of greatest need.
Malnutrition Treatment
Our stabilization centers and outpatient programs treat children with severe acute malnutrition, including those with life-threatening medical complications.
Health & Disease Response
We bring primary health care, vaccines and treatment for diseases like measles and diphtheria to children in hard-to-reach and displaced communities through mobile health teams.
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Water, Sanitation & Hygiene
We help families access safe water and sanitation and promote hygiene practices that reduce the spread of cholera and other waterborne diseases.
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Child Protection
We keep displaced children safe through child-friendly spaces, case management and family reunification.
How Aid Cuts Are Affecting Children in Somalia
See how cuts to humanitarian funding are reducing access to lifesaving food, health and nutrition services as hunger and malnutrition rise across Somalia.
The consequences are already visible: food assistance fell from 1.1 million people in August 2025 to 350,000, a reduction of nearly 70%, and more than 200 health facilities and 300 nutrition centers have closed.
Without additional flexible funding, 250,000 children could go untreated for severe acute malnutrition and 372,000 children under five could remain unvaccinated. For children already facing hunger and disease, losing access to a clinic or nutrition center can put lifesaving care further out of reach.
Save the Children has a proven track record of using donations efficiently and effectively to change children's lives. We are proud to have received an A- rating from CharityWatch and a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, the highest score possible from America’s leading independent charity evaluator.
This recognition reflects our long-standing commitment to ethical governance, transparent operations, and fiscally responsible use of donor support.
How Your Support is Helping Children in Somalia
Since 1951, we've worked to keep children in Somalia healthy, learning and safe. In 2025, we reached more than 3.4 million people, including 1.9 million children. Your donation helps us:
Nutrition
We screen and treat children for acute malnutrition, including the most severe cases, through clinics, mobile teams and trained community health workers.
Health
We bring treatment, vaccines and maternal care to hard-to-reach communities through mobile health teams and trained community health workers.
Child Protection
We keep children safe from violence, exploitation and neglect through child-friendly spaces, case management and family reunification.
Education
We help children keep learning, including children with disabilities and those forced from their homes, by training teachers and supporting schools across Somalia.
FAQs About the Crisis in Somalia and How You Can Help
How is the crisis impacting children and their rights?
Children are bearing the heaviest burden of a crisis they did not create. Three million children are in need of humanitarian assistance in 2026. Across Somalia, nearly 2 million children are projected to suffer acute malnutrition this year, including 493,000 projected to face severe acute malnutrition, putting them at imminent risk. Grave violations of children's rights remain widespread.
In 2024, Somalia recorded the third highest number of UN-verified grave violations against children in the world, with 2,568 violations affecting 1,992 children, and 648 cases of recruitment into armed groups were verified in the first half of 2025 alone. Many children have been separated from their families during displacement, and girls face heightened risks of child marriage, exploitation and gender-based violence.
How is the crisis impacting children's mental health?
Mental health and psychosocial support needs are deep and largely unmet. Children exposed to repeated drought, conflict, displacement, hunger and loss of family members show high rates of anxiety, withdrawal, sleep disturbance, and post-traumatic stress.
UNICEF and the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) identify mental health and psychosocial support as critically underdeveloped in Somalia, despite the scale of trauma. UNICEF is targeting 116,000 children, adolescents and caregivers with community-based mental health and psychosocial support in 2026, a small fraction of those who need it. Without timely intervention, the long-term impact on children's learning, development and life chances will be severe.
How is the crisis in Somalia impacting children's education?
Education is collapsing. About 62% of school-aged children are out of school in 2025, up from 56% in 2024.
Attacks on and military use of schools disrupted learning for more than 150,000 children in the first half of 2025 alone.
Funding cuts forced education partners to close 477 learning spaces in 2025, and reduced enrollment by 87,000 children compared with 2024. Girls, displaced children, nomadic children, and children with disabilities face the highest barriers.
How long has Save the Children been working in Somalia?
Save the Children has been working in Somalia and Somaliland since 1951. We are one of the largest humanitarian and development organizations in the country, operating directly and through national partners across all federal member states, Banadir, Puntland and Somaliland, including hard-to-reach and conflict-affected districts. Our model combines life-saving humanitarian response with longer-term resilience, system strengthening, and child rights governance work, delivered in close coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, state authorities, the Humanitarian Country Team, and local civil society partners.
What is Save the Children doing to respond to the rising needs of children and their families?
Our 2026 response prioritizes the highest-severity districts and the IDP settlements in the highest-severity areas in southern and central Somalia. We are scaling up integrated nutrition screening and treatment, primary and mobile health care, water and sanitation, education in emergencies, child protection case management, mental health and psychosocial support, and humanitarian cash transfers. We are pre-positioning supplies in high-risk districts and strengthening anticipatory action ahead of further drought and flood shocks. Wherever possible, we deliver through national partners to expand reach in areas where international access is constrained.
How many people, including children, has Save the Children reached?
In 2025, Save the Children's Somalia Country Office reached 3,432,403 unique individuals, including 1,902,441 children. Health and nutrition recorded 4,159,690 total engagements, education 274,143, child poverty and livelihoods 131,301, child protection 26,496, and child rights governance 104.
How can I help children in Somalia?
The most effective way to help right now is to donate. With floods expected from October to December, early funding lets us reach children before conditions get worse. Your gift can help provide:
- $35: treatment for one child with acute malnutrition for a month
- $30: emergency water for one family for a week
- $36: a hygiene kit to help a family protect against waterborne disease
You can also give monthly to support children through this crisis and the next one, start a fundraiser, or advocate for continued humanitarian funding for children in crisis.
