WHAT IS HAPPENING IN SOMALIA?
Somalia has a challenging history marked by prolonged internal conflict and political instability. This situation has led to the displacement of millions of people in the country and significant difficulties in accessing basic services. Meanwhile, persistent drought, food insecurity, and famine have pushed 6.2 million people in Somalia, with a population of 12 million, to the brink of a major crisis.
Particularly, the severe drought that occurred in 2011, impacting many countries in the Horn of Africa, left over 4 million people in Somalia facing famine. Poor nutrition, water scarcity, and lack of access to essential services resulted in substantial increases in disease and mortality rates, affecting vulnerable groups the most. The limited resources in the health sector, coupled with high levels of information, logistics, and service deficiencies in preventive healthcare, exacerbate the situation day by day.
One in every seven children in Somalia is adversely affected by infectious diseases. Almost half of children under the age of 5 (1.5 million children) are at risk of acute malnutrition. About one in three children in the country is born with low birth weight, and due to the humanitarian crisis, many do not survive to reach the age of 5. According to 2022 data, 730 children lost their lives between January and July alone.
Over 1 million people in Somalia have been forced to abandon their homes due to drought.
WHAT ARE WE DOING?
We have been actively responding to the ongoing humanitarian crisis for years, providing primary healthcare services, maternal and child health, and nutrition services for those in need. Opening three nutrition health centers in 2011 and 2013, we reached thousands of beneficiaries. In addition to our healthcare services at the Shifa Hospital, which opened on March 6, 2012, with a capacity of 66 beds, we regularly sent volunteer healthcare teams from various regions of Turkey, conducting over 2,000 surgeries. Various training programs were provided for healthcare workers.
In 2018, we established a maternity center 13 km from Mogadishu, serving approximately 50,000 people in need for a year. Services included gynecological examinations during pregnancy and postpartum, safe childbirth services, and basic laboratory tests. We also conducted informational activities for mothers on childcare, nutrition, healthcare, hygiene, breastfeeding, and HIV awareness. Over 1,000 nutrition, examination, and treatment sessions were conducted for children under 5 with acute malnutrition, attempting to heal their wounds. As of 2023, our Mogadishu Health Center in Somalia continues to provide services, benefiting more than 257,000 individuals.
Additionally, we organize cataract camps for individuals with impaired vision, obligatory and voluntary sacrifice operations to support nutrition health, and distribution operations for iftar and food packages during Ramadan, as we have been doing for a long time.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
You can support our efforts in family health and nutrition through your donations, providing healing to those in need living in challenging conditions.
