Somalia

 Issues/Crisis
Major Diseases Degree of risk:? high.
Food or waterborne diseases:? bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and
typhoid fever.
Vectorborne diseases:? dengue fever, malaria, and Rift Valley fever.
Water contact disease?: schistosomiasis.
Animal contact disease:? rabies (2009).
Political Climate
Somalia is currently facing 18 years of ongoing civil war with no centralized government.
The situation in Somalia encompasses the world’s second largest humanitarian crisis
(UNHCR).
Piracy is making it difficult for food aid to be delivered to Somalia.
Food
According to World Food Program (WFP) Malnutrition is widespread, with acute
malnutrition afflicting 17 percent of the children. Additionally, UNICEF states that 20
percent of children under the age five are underweight.
In August of this year, the Food Security Analysis Unit (FSAU) estimates that the number
of people in need of humanitarian aid increased from 2.6 million people to 3.25 million at
the beginning of 2008.
More than 1.3 million individuals are internally displaced people and the figures are
predicated to be increasing (FSAU).
Education
Without a central government, the Somali education system does not exist. The majority
of the people rely on private education and in order to enroll in school, therefore, only
families that can afford to pay school fees send their kids to school.
? Literacy
? Defination: age 15 and over can read and write
? Male: 37.8%
? Female: 25.8% (2001 est)
Economic
Due to the ongoing civil war, the statistics for per capita GDP and the percentage of the
population living below the national poverty line are unavailable, even though Somalia
has been classified as a low-income country by the World Bank. Furthermore, Somalia is
considered a low-income country with an estimated 45 percent of the population living
on less than $1 a day(The UK’s Department of International Development (DFID).