Supporting a country in transition
Tackling poverty across Somalia
HEALTH
1.6 million Somali children are acutely malnourished
EDUCATION
3.6 million children are out of school and 46% of adults are illiterate
WATER
8 million people lack access to clean water and sanitation
CONFLICT
3.8 million people are displaced by conflict, climate change and poverty
Saving and changing lives
The Somali people are grappling with a combination of poverty, climate change and conflict that is unparalleled anywhere else in the world.
Somalia is not only one of the very poorest nations but also seventh in the rankings for vulnerability to conflict (Fragile States Index) and to climate change (Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative index – ND-GAIN).
Ten million Somalis live below the poverty line, 8 million lack access to safe water and sanitation, and 3.8 million have been driven from their homes by drought, floods or insecurity. There are 3.6 million children out of school and 1.6 million are acutely malnourished.
Zamzam Foundation and Zamzam UK see Somalia as a country full of potential but also a country in transition, determined to confront its many challenges but weighed down by the profound impact of deeply entrenched poverty and decades of conflict and instability.
We are working to build a brighter future through an array of inter-connected and complementary programmes:
- We deliver emergency aid – food, water, shelter and hygiene kits – to assist the displaced and victims of conflict
- The education, orphan care, health and clean water projects we deliver enable children from poor families to go to school and protect communities against deadly diseases
- Our grants, training and other support for farmers, women entrepreneurs and young people enable families to develop sustainable livelihoods
- Our peacebuilding programme works to reduce conflict over scarce resources such as water and pasture
- Women’s empowerment is a cross-cutting element of all our programmes.
We believe it is imperative to ensure a strong emergency response to support vulnerable communities affected by conflict and extreme weather events. We are also working to improve community resilience and adaptation to climate change by empowering farmers to farm productively and providing grants and loans to help people earn a decent income.
In education and social welfare our aims include building and managing schools, providing high-quality education materials, and giving healthcare, education and financial support to families looking after orphans. We are also working to expand and improve technical and vocational education and training (TVET), helping young people to acquire employable skills.
In healthcare our aims are to provide high-quality maternal and child health and other critical services, to improve health facilities, and to increase community awareness to limit the spread of disease. Through our water and sanitation programmers we enable people and their livestock to get access to clean water for life by drilling new deep boreholes every year and training members of every community to manage and maintain water projects successfully.
Zamzam Foundation’s annual reports, the most recent of which can be accessed here on the Zamzam UK website, provide a comprehensive overview every year of all these projects and more