The Red Cross provides additional support to Somalia and emergency supplies to those who have fled their homes due to floods, drought and conflicts

“My child was given medicine and milk when we arrived. Thank God he is alright. I didn’t believe he would make it,” says Marwo Abdikarim. Marwo travelled hundreds of kilometres with their son Ahmed Hussein, 11 months old, to visit a hospital supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross. The hospital located in Kismayo, Southern Somalia, is specialised in treating children aged under 5 who suffer critically from severe malnutrition. 

The International Committee of the Red Cross reported on the rapid growth of the number of child patients in Somalia that are in a critical condition due to severe malnutrition. In January–May, the number of patients at the Kismayo hospital increased by 70 per cent compared to the previous five months.  

In June, the Finnish Red Cross allocated €270,000 from its disaster relief fund to the International Committee of the Red Cross to help with the malnutrition of small children. The money is used to acquire nutritional supplements for young children. In Somalia, an estimated 1.6 million children under the age of five are suffering from acute malnutrition. 

Emergency supplies to Central Somalia

“We have been here already for a year. Our family walked 60 kilometres to find safety. We were forced to leave behind everything we own because of the fighting. Now, we’re just trying to survive,” says Khadija in Shabelle, Central Somalia. 
She came to the Somali Red Crescent Society distribution point to pick up emergency supplies, such as sleeping pads and kitchen supplies. 

The Finnish Red Cross is allocating €320,000 from its disaster relief fund for the emergency aid efforts carried out by the Somali Red Crescent Society in the area. Thousands of people in Central Somalia have been force to flee their homes due to violence. The internally displaced people in the country live in self-made camps. The need for humanitarian aid is great. The rains and floods make the already poor conditions of families even worse. 

The money from the disaster relief fund is used to provide families with cash assistance and emergency supplies, such as tarpaulins, mattresses, mosquito nets and kitchen and hygiene supplies.

The Red Cross offers safe childbirth services 

The access of women and girls to sexual and reproductive health services is typically interrupted in times of conflict. The Finnish Red Cross secures access to these services in Somalia with the funding provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Finnish Red Cross has provided support to nine Somali Red Crescent Society clinics. In 2024, the clinics provided health services to 113,000 people, of which 23,000 were children. The clinics carried out 32,000 health examinations on pregnant women and provided the opportunity of safe childbirth to 7,200 women.  

“Safe childbirth services are offered around the clock by most clinics supported by Finland. The community volunteers trained by the Somali Red Crescent Society encourage mothers to go to these clinics for childbirth and provide health advice, which improves the health of women and children in the middle of a conflict,” says the Finnish Red Cross Health Expert Terhi Heinäsmäki.  

The Red Crescent has access to hard-to-reach areas

The complex crisis in Somalia is rooted in political instability and conflicts and tensions within the country. Extreme weather events brought on by climate change, coupled with recent cuts in humanitarian aid and development co-operation, have further deepened the crisis.   

Thanks to its neutrality and reliability, the Somali Red Crescent Society is able to deliver aid to hard-to-reach areas throughout the country. In most cases, it is the only humanitarian operator that has access to areas that suffer from conflicts. 

Text: Minttu-Maaria Partanen

Communications Specialist