MOGADISHU (Halbeeg News) – Donations to the Somali Humanitarian Fund which brings together various countries under a common pool dropped by 5% in 2018 compared to the previous year, a new report has revealed.
The SHF 2018 annual report indicated that between January and December 2018, the Fund whose contributions are reported to the World Bank’s Multi-Partner Fund attracted $54.3 million. This was a 5% drop from 2017 which recorded $56.9 million.
The report noted donors continued to provide strong support for the SHF despite a decline in overall humanitarian funding for Somalia which dropped by 18% in 2017.
“Between January and December, $54.3 million were deposited ($56.9 million in 2017), which came in addition to almost $6 million in uncommitted funds carried over from 2017 and more than $3 million in partners’ refunds,” the report notes.
According to the report, Germany ($13.6) was the top donor second year in a row, followed by Sweden ($9.8), United Kingdom (UK) ($6.4) and Norway ($5.2). Other donors were the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, Australia, Canada, Switzerland and the Republic of Korea.
The SHF 2018 allocation of $53 million represented 6% of the total amount received under the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) 2018 which amounted to $885 million. The HRP 2018 had initially put out a $1.54 billion appeal to address humanitarian needs in the country.
$24.6 million of funds which equivalent to about 45 percent were received in the first half of 2018, allowing, together with the uncommitted carry-over from 2017, for early support that was closely aligned with the 2018 Somalia HRP priorities geared at sustaining the famine-prevention efforts.
The report comes less than a month after the UN Development Program (UNDP) warned that the food security situation in Somali “remains precarious for millions of Somalis, following the fifth consecutive year of drought.”
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