Nearly 874 000 people could be forced from their homes in Somalia over the next three months as rising rivers and heavy rainfall threaten communities already struggling with drought and repeated displacement, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Thursday.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the Danish Refugee Council project that flooding will account for 92% of the displacement as Somalia enters a rainy season forecast to bring above-normal rainfall amid strengthening El Niño conditions.
IOM is working with Somali authorities to strengthen early warning systems and prepare emergency assistance, Dujarric told a press briefing at the United Nations.
However, the agency has secured only 14% of the $16.6 million needed to prepare for and respond to El Niño-related events.
The funding gap leaves most of the anticipated response unfunded as authorities and aid workers prepare for flooding that could force hundreds of thousands of people to leave.
