Concern using e-money to save lives in hunger-stricken Somalia

Concern Worldwide said that in just one year it sent the equivalent of €7.5 million in digital cash donated by the European Union to 17,801 Somali households benefitting 130,525 people trying to survive amid conflict and severe drought. 

“Families left with nothing have been able to pay for food, water and other basic needs thanks to this cash aid sent digitally on mobile phones,” said Concern’s Somalia Country Director Richard Nunn.

“Many people in Somalia, like everywhere else the world, have access to phones so this makes it easier for us to reach them and send them the support that they need if they have access to local markets where they can get basic items.

“People who need support are registered so that we can send them the cash they need to survive, which also helps to boost the local economy.”

The initiative is called the Somali Cash Consortium and is led by Concern with six other relief agencies responding to the ongoing hunger and displacement crisis in Somalia.

It supports people like mother-of-four Amburo who walked for three days to find shelter in a displacement camp after they were forced to flee their home and farm when extreme drought caused their cattle and crops to perish. 

Their one-year-old son was severely malnourished but received the treatment he needed from Concern health and nutrition programme before getting cash-aid from the Somali Cash Consortium to help them rebuild their lives.

Amburo said that in one month she received USD$180 (€158), which she used to buy maize and other food in addition to clothes. The amount she received has also enabled her to pay her children’s school fees, as well as allowing her to stay with her malnourished son in a stabilisation centre instead of having to go out and look for food.

“The cash has improved my life and my children look healthier today,” she said. 

“We had absolutely nothing and had to start again from zero. Now, some of my hopes have come true. 

“I want to see my children healthy, living a good life and maybe even graduating from school.”

It is estimated that 3.5 million people are displaced in Somalia, largely due to conflict and extreme weather events like drought. 

There are also over 1.8 million children under the age of five facing acute malnutrition, which is life threatening if not treated. 

“Many of those who flee their homes are searching for food, water, and safety and seek refuge in displacement camps around the capital Mogadishu,” added Richard Nunn.

“Conditions are grim and precarious. Areas are under served and prone to violence perpetrated by armed groups.”

Concern urges anyone who would like to find out more about their work in Somalia who would like to support their work to go to concern.net.

For more information, please contact Kevin Jenkinson at 0863582886 or at kevin.jenkinson@concern.net