World Vision Somalia ENOUGH Campaign Launch Report: Participants Laud the Campaign, Urge Collaborative Efforts

On Tuesday, July 30, 2024, World Vision Somalia launched the ENOUGH Campaign in Mogadishu, the capital of the Federal Republic of Somalia. The launch was well-attended, with representation from the Government, including the Deputy Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Somalia as the Chief Guest, distinguished ministers and members of parliament, UN country representatives from WFP, OCHA, UNICEF, and FAO, civil society organizations, local and international organizations, children’s rights advocates, donors, and World Vision East Africa Region leadership.

*Kevin Mackey, the World Vision Somalia National Director, addressing the attendees at the launch of the ENOUGH Campaign in Mogadishu, Somalia.*

In his opening remarks, World Vision Somalia National Director Kevin Mackey reiterated that the task of ending child malnutrition is the work of many hands, reiterating that it will take a comprehensive approach to end hunger and malnutrition in Somalia. “In Somalia, children are continuing to bear the brunt of an unequal food system disrupted by conflicts and climate change. He noted that in Somalia, in 2024, 1.7 million children aged between 6 and 59 months faced acute malnutrition including 430,000 who are severely malnourished. We believe this is unacceptable,” Mackey said.

“Every child deserves the food they need to develop a healthy body and mind. Every family has the right to be able to put enough of the right food on the table. In this room, are assembled many of the people who are best-placed to take action to ensure that every child enjoys enough nourishing food so that they can thrive.

Today, we hope to unpack the reasons for these stark numbers to understand the technical and structural issues which lead to them. We hope to explore how conflict and the impacts of climate change are making it harder for families to secure enough food.

The ENOUGH Campaign, Mackey said, is ‘World Vision’s efforts to mobilise our humanitarian and development partners and peers’ collective voice against child hunger and malnutrition. “World Vision cannot end hunger and malnutrition in Somalia alone and we look forward to our valued partnership with all of you to address these challenges,” Mackey said.

The launch also featured a panel discussion which explored food insecurity challenges in Somalia seeking selected experts views on how they can be addressed. Climate change emerged as a cross-cutting challenge in contributing to cyclical food insecurity in Somalia. The panel of experts drawn from Government, Humanitarian Partners, including children representative called for strengthening of food systems, resilience building, durable solutions, prioritisation of nutrition sensitive policies and prevention.

*The Panel of Experts drawn from Government and Humanitarian Partners during the ENOUGH Campaign Launch.*

*Lillian Dodzo, the East Africa Reginal Leader of World Vision passionately addressing the ENOUGH Campaign Launch in Mogadishu, Somalia.*

World Vision East Africa Regional Leader Lilian Dodzo reminded the audience that behind every statistic of hunger and malnutrition was a human life.

“Distinguished guests, children in Somalia and across Africa are counting on us to join together and address the challenges of hunger and malnutrition, and the time is NOW. “We know the world has enough to provide food and care for every child facing hunger and malnutrition, but this is not the reality right now, as statistics have shown,” she said.

She called for collectiveness in fighting the scourge of malnutrition and hunger. “By uniting, we can become a powerful force in eradicating child malnutrition. It is therefore imperative that we prioritise addressing these root causes and key drivers of hunger and malnutrition, while being sensitive to listen to the voices of the children.”

Ruth Koshal, the Director of Advocacy and External Engagement at World Vision East Africa Region outlined the key components of the ENOUGH Campaign.

“The ENOUGH Campaign has the following key advocacy asks: 1. Listening to children 2. Enough of the right food for children in crises 3. School meals can change the world for Children 4. Children must be counted 4. Nutrition policies and services 5. Enough funding for child malnutrition.”

Somali Children present their recommendations during the ENOUGH Campaign Launch

The Launch also strongly featured the voices of children who called for leaders and participants present to go beyond words and translate them into actions.

*Sumayo, Hawo and Ahmed,* passionate advocates for Somali children, delivering a powerfull call to action at the ENOUGH launch event in Mogadishu, Somalia.

15-year-old Ahmed, 11-year-old Hawa and 14-year-old Sumaya represented the voices of children. They highlighted five challenges. 1. Climate change. They noted climate change had disrupted agricultural practices hindering food production, resulting in displacements and conflicts. 2. They also singled out inadequate access to nutritious food, 3. lack of clean water, 4. Poverty and 5. Lack of child participation in decision-making on matters affecting them.

“If there is no hunger in the world, children will be able to attend school. Families would not struggle looking for their next meal. When the world deals with hunger, levels of poverty will reduce,” noted Sumaya.

“We, on behalf of the children of Somalia, stand united with a plea from our hearts. Despite the challenges A, we have in Somalia, we dream of a future where every child thrives with proper nutrition, and where our voices echo in the halls like this and in the forums of decision-making,” Hawa read out.

UNICEF Country Representative Wafaa Abdelatif reiterated the need for joint efforts to realise the objective of the ENOUGH Campaign. “We really need to work together to shift toward this approach ENOUGH Campaign and this should be in everyone’s business, on behalf of UNICEF the child-derived organisation,” she said.

*Wafaa Saeed Abdelatef, the UNICEF Somalia Country Representative, outlined the organization’s key initiatives to support vulnerable children and families*

UNICEF Somalia Nutrition Chief Eric Ategbo echoed the children’s call to be freed from hunger and malnutrition so that they can attend school. “The children here today said they want to go to school, they want to concentrate and they want to learn. We have evidence that, when the child is anaemic, there’s the potential of losing two to three years of school,” he stressed.

World Food Programme Deputy Country Director Allison Oman lauded the launch of the campaign. “It is with great honour that I stand before you today, representing the United Nations World Food Programme in Somalia, alongside our partners from World Vision International, to launch the ENOUGH Campaign – a united call to action to end the devastating crisis of child hunger and malnutrition in our country.”

*Allison Oman, the WFP Somalia Deputy Country Director, spoke about the agency’s efforts to address food insecurity in the country.*

On her part, FAO Somalia deputy head of programmes Verenica Mutiro expressed her support for the ENOUGH Campaign. “For better nutrition, we focus on increasing access to a whole diet through growing more nutritional food for consumption and income. FAO is happy to be working with World Vision to achieve our 4 betters- better production, better nutrition, better environment and better life. We look forward to deepening our existing efforts and collaboration with the ENOUGH Campaign initiatives and particularly the children and women of Somalia.”

*FAO Somalia deputy head of programmes Verenica Mutiro expressed her organization’ support for the ENOUGH Campaign.*

In his keynote address, His Excellency Salah Jama the Deputy Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Somalia said the government will deploy necessary measures including policy alignment to alleviate food insecurity in the country.

H.E. Salah Jama, the Somali Deputy Prime Minister addressed the crowd at the ENOUGH Campaign launch, lending the weight of the government’s support to the important call to end child hunger and malnutrition in Somalia.

The “ENOUGH” campaign to end child hunger and malnutrition in Somalia is a noble and necessary cause that requires collective effort from social, economic, and human capacity development perspectives,” the PM said. “As the government, we will use our national policies, mainly the upcoming National Transformation Plan, for bringing down increasing levels of poverty and creating productive opportunities for our citizens.”

The Deputy PM called for the implementation of durable solutions to not only ensure food security but also build the capacity of Somalis to become productive in their respective societies. “It is not our business to just keep people just alive; we want to make people independent, dignified productive, and not be a burden to the global community,” Salah said.

He noted that an investment in the Somali children was a major step in securing their future. “Investing in them (children) today is about the future of Somalia’s tomorrow. It is about the development of the human capital capabilities of Somalia.”

Child hunger is at its worst in generations. Children are bearing the brunt of an unequal food system disrupted by conflicts and climate change. “Every child deserves the food they need to develop a healthy body and mind. Every family has the right to be able to put enough of the right food on the table. We must take action immediately

Ahmed Omar, Associate Director of Advocacy and External Engagement for World Vision Somalia, briefing the media on the organization’s vision and approach for the ENOUGH campaign to address hunger and malnutrition among Somali children.

During a media briefing following the campaign launch, the Associate Director of Advocacy and External Engagement for World Vision Somalia, Mr. Ahmed Omar, outlined the organization’s vision for the initiative. According to the Associate Director on Advocacy, “World Vision’s goal is to create a world where every child has access to nourishing food and can thrive as a result.”

World Vision will employ a two-pronged approach to achieve the vision of the ENOUGH Campaign. First, the organization will expand proven interventions to immediately address child hunger and malnutrition. This will include food and cash assistance as well as essential nutrition services delivered by a qualified community health workforce.

Secondly, World Vision will advocate for systematic changes to ensure long-term impact. This will involve supporting efforts to accurately count hungry and malnourished children in order to better target them with assistance. We will also work to amplify children’s voices and ensure they are prioritized in relevant policy decisions. Additionally, World Vision will push for government policies and funding decisions that promote child-sensitive and nutrition-focused approaches to prevent future crises. This will include improving regulations around food and beverages to foster healthier diets.

“Over the next 3 years, World Vision will unite and intensify its efforts to mobilize children, citizens, partners and powerholders and impact over millions of Somali children by 2026,” said the advocacy director. “By the end of the campaign, we want hungry and malnourished children to be more visible, heard and prioritized in policy and funding, and to be better fed, nourished and resilient.”

“Like you have witnessed today, the Enough campaign will make children visible in the key discussion forums and in the national statistics around hunger and nutrition,” he added. “We will support and empower children to shape relevant decisions, policies and funding to promote healthy child-sensitive diets and build resilience to future crises.

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