Mother and child wait to receive a vaccination at a camp for internally displaced persons in Mogadishu, Somalia. Credit: Ismail Taxta/ WHO.

Mogadishu, 20 March 2023 – Since 2013, the 20 March has been commemorated as the International Day of Happiness. The day provides an occasion to recognize and reflect on the importance of happiness in the lives of people around the world. Numerous studies show correlation between mental health, happiness and quality of life and yet, mental health is often neglected in health programming, particularly in fragile contexts like Somalia. Yet, it is in these contexts that mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) is particularly needed.

Having faced decades of conflict, displacement, climate shocks and extreme poverty, the incidence of mental health issues in Somalia is thought to be one of the highest, if not the highest, among low-income countries. With limited access to support services, populations in need of MHPSS and their families are likely to be caught up in a cycle of poverty, mental illness, social marginalization, stigma and general health issues, reducing both quality of life and life expectancy.

WHO is working with the Ministry of Health to expand access to MHPSS services, which is a crucial component of the Somalia Essential Package of Health Services (EPHS, 2020), and to promote coordination between actors through the Mental Health technical working group. In partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Ministry of Health, WHO also implemented the “Improving psychosocial support and mental health care for conflict-affected youth in Somalia: a socially inclusive integrated approach for peacebuilding” project with funding from the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund.

The project sought to establish links between mental health care and peacebuilding and contribute to building better social cohesion amongst communities by reducing harmful mental health impacts and negative coping behaviors including substance abuse. Research conducted by WHO in three districts as part of this project found that three quarters of participants in clinical and non-clinical settings were experiencing some sort of mental health issue while the prevalence of substance abuse issues and poor quality of life were also high. The research also found that there has been a positive relationship between those suffering from mental illness with substance abuse, meaning that those suffering from mental illness often resort to substance abuse as part of their coping mechanism. With a particular focus on young people, who make up three quarters of Somalia’s population and are well-positioned to contribute to the country’s transition from conflict to lasting peace, the project worked to strengthen institutional and community support for MHPSS for conflict-affect youth, while reducing stigma associated with mental health issues.

The project found that while improving mental health care services is essential to enabling young Somalis to contribute to their communities and actively engage in peacebuilding, it is not sufficient. Without access to employment and livelihoods opportunities and a sense of hope for the future, young people struggled to escape the pervasive cycle of mental heath and substance abuse issues.

Reflecting on the impact of the project on the International Day of Happiness, WHO Representative to Somalia and Head of Mission, Dr Mamunur Rahman Malik called for a holistic, multi-sectoral response, saying, “mental health and psychosocial support is essential to enabling people around the world to live happy and healthy lives. We know that health is a holistic state of well-being, not merely the absence of disease. While expanding access to mental health services as part of Somalia’s Essential Package of Health Services, we must link with other projects and initiatives to break the cycle of poverty, stigma and exclusion and ensure that those experiencing mental health issues have access to education, to livelihoods, to opportunities to engage with their communities and build a sense of hope for the future.”

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For additional information, please contact:

Kyle DeFreitas
WHO Somalia External Relations Lead
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Fouzia Bano
WHO Somalia Communications Officer
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Related links

For further information on WHO’s work on mental health, including in Somalia, please see:

World Mental Health Day 2021, Somalia: WHO EMRO | Making mental health care for all a reality in Somalia: United Nations and the Government join forces to scale up quality mental health services at all levels of care | News | Somalia site

Mental Health at WHO: Mental health (who.int)

H.E. Eng. Ahmed Albaiz, Assistant-Supervisor General for Operations and Programmes at the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), and Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, sign project contribution agreement

Riyadh, 14 March 2023 – H.E. Eng. Ahmed Albaiz, Assistant-Supervisor General for Operations and Programmes at the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), and Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, signed a project contribution agreement during the 3rd Riyadh International Humanitarian Forum from 20 to 21 February 2023, entitled “Every breath counts: Reducing childhood pneumonia by increasing access to medical oxygen in the fragile humanitarian setting of Somalia.”

This landmark moment highlights the strong humanitarian partnership between KSrelief and WHO to better ensure health for all in vulnerable communities and comes at a particularly important time when Somalia is suffering from one of the worst droughts in its recent history, which has adversely affected 7.8 million people, including 1.1 million who have been displaced (on top of 2.5 million already previously displaced) in search of food, water and health care.

Child mortality, especially infant and under-5 death rates in Somalia are among the highest in the world. Any child born in Somalia today is 16.5 times more likely to die before the age of 5, than a child from any other country. Currently, the under-5 mortality rate in Somalia is 117 per 1 000 live births (higher than the sub-Saharan average of 76 deaths per 1000 per live births), whereby approximately 21% of these deaths among children under 5 are attributed to pneumonia, while 18–20% are attributed to diarrhoeal disease.

In response, this vital project aims to reduce the alarmingly high rates of childhood pneumonia- and diarrhoeal-related deaths in Somalia. The allocated resources from KSrelief will help WHO to undertake cost-effective and evidence-informed life-saving interventions in the target districts with a strong focus on strengthening community-based preventive care, as well as promotive and curative care for the treatment of sick children with signs of childhood pneumonia and diarrhoeal disease. The project will also contribute to strengthening primary health care, as well as maternity and child health centres and district hospitals (referral hospitals) by equipping them with solar-powered oxygen delivery system for improving access to medical oxygen for children, pregnant women and other vulnerable populations seeking health care in these public health facilities. 

As a result of these activities WHO anticipates that morbidity and mortality among children under 5 attributed to pneumonia will be reduced by 10% in the target districts, while an estimated 230 000 children under 5 and over 3.3 million people will benefit from integrated health care and other priority interventions of this project.  Thus, the goal and objectives of this project remain aligned with the Government’s overarching vision of achieving universal health coverage (UHC) through the implementation of its Essential Package of Health Services 2020, which focuses on leveraging community and primary levels of care to achieve Health for All by All.

Recognizing KSrelief’s contributing to saving the lives of Somali children, Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO’s Regional Director, said, “Contrary to what the situation in Somalia looks like, WHO has shown that community-based outreach programmes involving visits by community health workers to individual households assists greatly in identifying and referring children suffering from any illness to a health facility, including for suspected pneumonia or severe diarrhoea. As we continue pushing forward and materializing our regional vision: health for all by all, we strongly believe that continuing to integrate such community interventions to primary level care can be a game changer, especially when facilities also have access to medical oxygen and deliver integrated health care. On behalf of the WHO’s Regional Office and Country Office in Somalia, I express our sincere thanks and gratitude to KSrelief for this life-saving support to Somalia.”

Note to editors

Under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, His Royal Highness King Salman bin Abdulaziz, KSrelief organizes the Riyadh International Humanitarian Forum every 2 years in Saudi Arabia, bringing together humanitarian leaders, international partners, development practitioners, researchers, and others to promote dialogue on legislative, informational, and logistical mechanisms for delivering humanitarian aid to those most in need. The forum also addresses humanitarian challenges and seeks to identify innovative practical solutions in accordance with international humanitarian principles and standards, including the Sustainable Development Goals.

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For additional information, please contact:

Kyle DeFreitas
WHO Somalia External Relations Lead
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Fouzia Bano
WHO Chief of Staff ai, Communications Officer
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Related links

WHO supports nationwide integrated immunization campaign in the midst of drought: 2.61 million children vaccinated against measles and polio

Drought-survivors arrive at internally displaced person camps to "live another day" 

Experts of emergency medical team on a post re-constructive surgery visit at Madina Hospital, Mogadishu. Credit: WHO/Somalia

Mogadishu, 12 March 2023 – The WHO Country Office in Somalia recently deployed an emergency medical team (EMT) in Mogadishu to support trauma care and also help build local capacities of doctors, nurses and paramedics s in trauma care services, especially in the areas of reconstructive surgery, nursing management of traumatic brain injury, initial assessment, and triage in emergency and thoracic trauma injury.

As part of responding to the twin blasts which rocked the capital city of Somalia in October 2022, WHO deployed this EMT from the United Kingdom, known as UK-Med, which is a frontline medical aid charity borne out of the National Health Services (NHS) of the United Kingdom. The WHO EMT is a global initiative that assists organizations and countries to build capacity and strengthen health systems by coordinating the deployment of qualified medical teams in emergencies. This initiative also helps countries develop national teams, which can be deployed where they are needed most in the shortest time. The deployed team included an orthopaedic surgeon, nurse, infection prevention and control (IPC) specialist and trauma care experts and spent 6 weeks in Somalia between January and February 2023. During their deployment at Madina hospital, they collectively helped to build capacities of 21 doctors and 82 nursing staff working in ICU, emergency and IPC units.

Team lead for UK-MED delegation Catherine Smith considered the deployment of 6 weeks as relatively short but expressed satisfaction about her team’s achievements during this deployment. While concluding her placement experience in Somalia, she said that, “A comprehensive series of training and mentoring support has been provided at Madina Hospital for health staff in the emergency department, high dependency unit and in the operating theatres, as well as with the cross-departmental IPC committee, both face to face and online. The trainees felt more confident after series of engagements with UK experts but certainly would need more sustained mentoring to help polish their newly learned skills and provide quality care to challenging cases.”

Appreciating the WHO Somalia for deployment of the UK-MED team, the General Director of Madina Hospital Dr Mohamed Jama said that, “Besides carrying out life-altering surgeries, this deployment has helped improve the capacities of the Somali physicians, surgeons and nurses in the areas of emergency preparedness, orthopedics, including reconstructive surgeries, trauma care and IPC.” Adding he said, “Together with the rollout of the capacity-building plan of first responders and hospital directors/managers, WHO has helped us bridge some very critical gaps existing in our trauma care facilities and services. More than 40 first responders and about 22 hospital directors and managers have already received the trainings since the October 2022 blast in trauma care handling, management and preparing the hospitals for dealing with the emergencies. Now with these UK-MED experts, our local staff feels more confident and ready to serve but we will request WHO for sustained support in coming weeks and months to help us become self-sufficient.”

Mogadishu, 8 March 2023 – The Federal Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), commemorates International Women's Day under the theme of "DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality" by calling on all the partners to collaborate in accelerating progress toward universal health coverage (UHC) by leveraging technological, social, and economic resources to ensure that all Somali women and girls can lead healthy, equitable, and quality lives.

The WHO Country Office has been supporting the Ministry of Health in advancing women's rights and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 3, “to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all” and Goal 5, “to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.”

Appreciating the support provided by WHO Country Office in Somalia, Dr Naima Abdulkadir, Reproductive Health Manager at the Ministry of Health and Human Services, said, “In the given context of Somalia, addressing the gender inequalities remains a big ask for the Ministry. While managing a global pandemic, the country is dealing

discrimination and seek to ensure that every person, regardless of sex, can live a healthy life. However, to achieve this dream goal, we need sustained cooperation from WHO and other humanitarian partners to ensure that no one is left behind."

Somalia ranks among the countries with the lowest gender equality globally, with a gender inequality index of 0.776. Maternal and infant mortality rates remain alarmingly high, and early marriage is prevalent. Additionally, an overwhelming 99% of women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation and gender-based violence is widespread, with a prevalence of 14%, yet access to prevention and protection services remains limited. Additionally, despite the high mortality rates, no national maternal and perinatal death surveillance and reporting is in place, making evidence-based planning difficult.

WHO’s strives for gender equality in Somalia

The WHO Country Office is supporting the Ministry of Health to address various gaps, challenges, and gender inequalities and inequities in health by generating more gender-segregated data used for improved planning and programming and enhancing service delivery, particularly for women and children. WHO has been supporting the Ministry of Health in improving access to health care for women and children, particularly in remote, underserved areas, by deploying over 2100 community health workers, of which more than 60% are women, in 79 districts.

Dr Al-Umra Umar, Programme Lead for Reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health at the Country Office, said that “WHO teams have been collaborating with the government and partners to address the yawning gaps in gender equity and equality across Somalia by providing quality and accessible health services to women by employing innovative technological approaches like solarization of health facilities, capacity-building of women in health-related fields and providing employment to women. While progress has been made, there is still a significant demand for gender empowerment and skills development among Somali women in the digital age. WHO urges the donor community to support these efforts to help Somali women achieve greater empowerment and equality.” 

WHO has delivered essential health care services to pregnant and lactating women in drought-affected areas. In 2022, over 124 000 pregnant and lactating women received iron and folic acid supplements, while over 34 000 pregnant women were vaccinated against tetanus-diphtheria. As part of the effort to promote optimal nutrition, health, and development for infants and young children (0–2 years of age), and safe and appropriate feeding practices, 626 000 mothers received education on infant and young child feeding.

To improve gender inclusion in the COVID-19 response, WHO Somalia conducted a gender, equity and rights analysis in November 2021 to identify gaps, challenges, and opportunities for improved integration of gender, equity and rights in the COVID-19 national response. This helped WHO to focus on gender balance in its vaccination, outreach, tuberculosis and cholera responses. By the end of 2022, WHO has recorded vaccinating 49% of women across Somalia with the COVID-19 vaccine; among all smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis cases, 43% were among women, and women accounted for 49% of all reported cases of cholera/acute watery diarrhoea.

WHO, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund, funded health and gender-based violence-integrated projects through the Somalia Humanitarian Fund, reaching over 2100 women and girls with overall services, including services for the clinical management of rape. WHO has also been working with the Ministry of Health to prevent and respond to female genital mutilation by integrating a response into midwifery pre-service training, advocating against its medicalization, and enhancing the capacity of health workers to provide quality care for women and girls living with female genital mutilation.

To increase accountability for preventing and responding to sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment, WHO Somalia has made special efforts to ensure that policies, practices and interventions to prevent, detect and respond to sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment are in place. The WHO Country Office has prioritized addressing preventing and responding to sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment by implementing a multi-disciplinary risk-based approach and providing communication and training to over 90 staff and affiliates. Matilda Kirui, Health Cluster Support Officer and Gender Focal Point, said that "Collective efforts, including active participation of men in the promotion of and protection of women's rights, is paramount in advancing women's health.”

The majority of the health workforce are women, playing a pivotal role in providing health services to vulnerable communities. Credit: WHO/Somalia

Status of women and girls in Somalia

Extended periods of droughts and subsequent food insecurity have negatively impacted the health and well-being of the Somali population, especially women and girls. Somalia is ranked sixth in Africa for a high maternal mortality ratio, estimated at 692 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births, and has the highest under-5 mortality in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, standing at 117 per 1000 live births. One in 1000 women aged 15-49 die due to pregnancy- or birth-related complications, and 1 in 20 women is expected to die from pregnancy-related causes during their reproductive lifetime. Access to lifesaving reproductive, maternal, and child health services is limited, and only 32% of births are delivered with support from skilled health care providers, while 21% are delivered at a health facility.

The gender gap is vast, and women and girls face widespread gender inequality manifesting in numerous ways. Harmful practices, such as early marriage, gender-based violence and female genital mutilation, remain persistent, and 99% of women and girls aged 15–49 have undergone some form of female genital mutilation – the highest prevalence in the world. The medicalization of female genital mutilation is an emerging challenge as more health practitioners perform this practice in health facilities. Women and girls have very limited access to violence protection and prevention services, and most survivors of gender-based violence and other forms of violence depend on traditional justice mechanisms, including customary law, which has limitations in ensuring the human rights of the survivors.

For additional information, please contact:

Kyle DeFreitas
External Relations Officer
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Fouzia Bano
Communications Officer
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Related links

WHO pilots first-ever programme leadership and management training for RMNCAH in Somalia

Universal Health Coverage Day: building the world we want to deliver a healthy future for all

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