In late March, the IPC Technical Working Group in Somalia conducted an update of their analysis released in February 2025. This update reflects the likely impact of the major reduction in humanitarian assistance funding announced recently and also a likely further increase in population displacement due to drought and conflict.update reflects the likely impact of the major reduction in humanitarian assistance funding announced recently and also a likely further increase in population displacement due to drought and conflict.

The reduction in humanitarian funding is already affecting the nutrition, health, and WASH service delivery, impacting the nutrition outcome for two rural livelihoods which have worsened from Serious (IPC AMN Phase 3) to Critical (IPC AMN Phase 4).

The total acute malnutrition burden estimate for January to December 2025 has also increased to 1.8 million children aged 6-59 months, including 479,000 children likely to be severely malnourished. Compared to the January 2025 analysis, with a total burden estimate of 1.7 million for the same period, the revised estimate reflects an increase of nearly 47,000 children facing acute malnutrition.

The January 2025 analysis showed that acute malnutrition situation was expected to deteriorate between April and June 2025 in these livelihood zones, primarily due to seasonal variations and persistent vulnerabilities following the worsening of conditions observed during the 2024 Deyr. However, after accounting for the cumulative effects of the funding reduction, acute malnutrition situation is projected to deteriorate even further threatening the lives of children.

With nearly 1 in 4 Somalis in need of urgent of assistance, the humanitarian situation in Somalia remains critical. Urgent mobilisation of resources is required to address the needs of the most vulnerable. Specific recommended actions are highlighted below.

• Sustained Lifesaving and Life-sustaining Assistance: Urgent funding required to maintain multi-sectoral humanitarian assistance in Food Security, Nutrition, Health, and WASH programmes. These interventions are essential to prevent further deterioration among the most vulnerable populations.
• Urgent Advocacy and Resource Mobilisation: Strengthen high-level advocacy and funding efforts to ensure adequate resources for populations classified in IPC AFI Phase 3 and above.
• Risk-Based Programming: Enhance anticipatory action (AA), preparedness, and early response to help vulnerable communities adapt to climate change impacts and recurrent shocks, including droughts and floods.
• Scale Up Integrated Programmes: Expand multi-sectoral collaboration across Food Security, Nutrition, Health, and WASH to break the cycle of food and nutrition insecurity, prioritising communities in IPC Phase 3 or above.
• Enhance Humanitarian Assistance Efficiency: Improve targeting mechanisms through Vulnerability-Based Targeting (VBT) and registration systems to prioritise marginalised and hard-to-reach populations, Accountability to Affected population (AAP) and strengthen prevention of aid diversion.
• Bridge Humanitarian and Development Efforts: Strengthen the link between emergency aid and long-term development to implement livelihood-based interventions, address root causes of food insecurity and malnutrition, and promote resilience.
• Expanding Social Protection Programmes: Scale up shock-responsive social protection and human capital development initiatives in urban and rural areas to support the most vulnerable households. 
• Rationalise health and nutrition services: To ensure equitable access, optimise resource allocation, enhance efficiency and quality of health and nutrition service delivery.
• Increase surveillance of malnutrition and disease burden and outbreaks: Strengthen health and nutrition surveillance systems at the community level
• Enhance Risk Monitoring and Assessment: Ensure adequate funding for the close monitoring of risk factors related to food security and nutrition, and related seasonal assessments to support the targeting and prioritization of humanitarian assistance.