Kenya-Somalia: transnational humanitarian response to the health and food emergency
The project aims to improve the maternal and child health and nutritional status of local communities and internally displaced people in the Mandera Triangle, an area that extends between Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, characterized by very complex climatic and socioeconomic conditions.
The intervention involves an integrated approach based on three pillars:
- The logic of proximity allows us to bring health and food assistance directly to the communities, overcoming the logistical and economic obstacles that characterize the most isolated areas.
- The integration of health and nutrition services guarantees complete care aligned with ministerial protocols, ensuring its future replicability.
- The active involvement of the population, local leaders and community workers fosters trust, rapid crisis response and long-term sustainability in monitoring the health and nutritional status of communities.
The context
The transnational intervention is developed in the Mandera Triangle, an area between Somalia and Kenya historically affected by prolonged droughts, interrupted by destructive floods. This year, this area faces the threat of the “Super El Niño” phenomenon, a climate emergency that threatens to aggravate the already precarious socio-economic conditions of the population, affected by internal conflicts and a lack of infrastructure and services.
The social and health system is severely deficient, with serious shortcomings in the provision of services, especially those dedicated to maternal and child care. Forecasts for 2026 outline a critical scenario in which El Niño will reduce agricultural production by up to 80% and East Africa will suffer catastrophic floods, resulting in the loss of crops and livestock. The combination of extreme weather events also causes a significant increase in the cost of food and basic necessities and reduces access to drinking water.
Activities
- Provision of local health services through mobile clinics to protect maternal and child health: activation of mobile clinics with multidisciplinary teams to offer free health care, vaccinations and medicines in the most isolated villages. The intervention is aimed primarily at pregnant or breastfeeding women and children.
- Emergency nutritional support for pregnant or lactating women and children under the age of 5: screening and growth monitoring for the early detection of malnutrition. In collaboration with local Health Departments, supplements and therapeutic foods are distributed, redirecting the most serious cases to the treatment centers available in the area.
- Education on health and healthy eating in favor of the different communities affected by the intervention: information campaigns on health, hygiene and healthy eating led by appropriately trained community health workers. The adoption of correct practices for the preparation of nutritious food and the prevention of waterborne diseases is promoted.
