“I can’t count the number of people that were displaced with us. Nearly everyone in the village left. It was such a long journey […] our cattle suffered horribly” Ardo, East Somalia internally displaced mother-of-four.

Ardo did not want to leave her village in eastern Ethiopia. But it had barely rained in months; her cattle were dying, and her children were hungry. She had to walk about 260 kilometers from her village in search desperately for water and pasture to feed her cattle and her family.

A famine resulting from a catastrophic drought, the worst in 40 years, is currently affecting over 18 million people in the Horn of Africa, particularly in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. Right now, people are struggling against the devastating impact of the climate crisis and ripple effects of the war in Ukraine, including a rise in global food prices.

In Somalia alone, 90% of the country is severely affected by the drought. Millions of people in Somalia, are farmers who depend on their livestock and crops for survival. Without enough water, livestock and crops are dying. So far, more than 800,000 have been displaced within Somalia, while almost 16,000 people have crossed the border into Ethiopia.

UNHCR is on the ground delivering life-saving shelter, water, sanitation facilities, nutrition, healthcare, cash assistance and protection to people forced to flee affected by the terrible drought. Today, we are in dire need of your support to help us respond to rising humanitarian needs.   UNHCR aims to support and assist more than 1.5 million people in most need, during this critical period that the Horn of Africa is going through. You can dedicate your Sadaqah to them, and you can also dedicate your Zakat to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Somalia specifically.