IRC has witnessed a sharp rise in acute malnutrition, increasing by nearly 42 percent from 2024 to 2025
Severe acute malnutrition cases rose from 4,456 to 6,761 representing an almost 52% increase
Moderate cases increased from 12,161 to 16,789 representing a 38% increase and underscoring the growing needs of vulnerable children across the country.
Between October and December 2025, acute malnutrition cases rose sharply compared to the same period in 2024. Moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) admissions increased from 2,330 in 2024 to 4,165 in 2025, reflecting a 79% rise. At the same time, severe acute
At the district level, data from across the same areas where IRC operates shows a 16% overall increase in acute malnutrition - from 118,451 to 137,968 cases - with moderate malnutrition rising by 32%.
Across Somalia, more than 200 health facilities have closed in 2025, and mobile teams have been disbanded. The anticipated withdrawal of additional funding to health facilities threatens services in 300 more facilities in the next 2–3 months
The integrated food security phase classification (IPC) system shows IPC Phase 3 or above levels (crisis or worse) has nearly doubled between February and March 2026 to a staggering 6.5 million people since early 2025.
Mogadishu, Somalia, February 25, 2026 — The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warns that Somalia is facing a rapidly escalating humanitarian emergency as overlapping crises including recurrent droughts and floods, ongoing conflict, disease outbreaks, and soaring living costs are pushing communities to the brink. These shocks are colliding with a devastating 67% collapse in international humanitarian funding in Somalia, driving a sharp rise in severe malnutrition cases seen in IRC clinics across the country. The funding shortfall has already forced the closure of more than 200 health facilities, cutting millions off from essential care at a moment when humanitarian needs are at their highest in a decade. As a result of this dangerous convergence of crises, Somalia appears on IRC’s 2026 Emergency Watchlist, highlighting the acute risk of further deterioration without urgent, sustained international support.
In 2026, an estimated 4.8 million people in Somalia require urgent humanitarian assistance. Nearly 2 million children under the age of five are suffering from acute malnutrition as the social safety nets that once supported vulnerable families continue to erode. Children experiencing acute malnutrition are too thin for their height and as their bodies weaken from a lack of nutrition, they become more vulnerable to other diseases. They are 11 times more likely to die than healthy children.
Successive seasons of poor rains have devastated livelihoods, drying up water sources, depleting pastures, and exhausting the coping capacities of already vulnerable, agro-pastoral dependent households.
To avert further catastrophe, despite enormous funding gaps, the IRC is scaling up a response focused on the country’s humanitarian epicenters to support malnourished children. This includes rehabilitation of eight critical water sources, and restoring safe and sustainable water access for 40 thousand people affected by the drought and displacement.
Abukar Mohamud, Acting IRC Somalia Country Director, said:
“The world must act now- Somalia cannot wait or afford another catastrophic drought like the one we saw between 2020-2023, and right now Somalia is at a breaking point. Every day, our teams meet parents who are walking for hours to find water, treatment for their malnourished children, or the most basic healthcare. With hundreds of facilities closing and funding at its lowest in a decade, the humanitarian system is being pushed to its limits. Without urgent and flexible investment from the international community, we risk seeing preventable deaths rise sharply in the coming months.”
The IRC urges donors to rapidly scale up funding to ensure frontline responders can continue delivering lifesaving assistance and prevent the crisis from spiraling further. The IRC is already implementing a simplified protocol to combine treatment of severe and moderate acute malnutrition in Somalia, which streamlines treatment and allows more children to be reached quickly and effectively. At a time of rising needs and shrinking resources, this approach is needed now more than ever.
The IRC began working in Somalia in 1981 in the aftermath of the Somalia-Ethiopia conflict. Over the years operations faced several interruptions due to insecurity and civil unrest but has been operating continuously since 2007. The IRC is operational in the main areas of concern including Banadir, Puntland, South-West, Jubaland and Hirshabelle states, and is continuing to support families with healthcare for malnourished children, unconditional cash transfers to help people quickly get the support they need, rehabilitation of boreholes and water sources as well as mobile health services to reach deeper into hard hit areas.