Harare — The executive of the European Union announced on September 19 that humanitarian aid payments to Somalia had been "temporarily suspended" following a UN investigation that revealed rampant theft and abuse of money intended to prevent starvation, Reuters reports.

The UN investigation came to the conclusion that help meant for vulnerable people was being stolen by landowners, local authorities, security personnel, and relief workers. Two Somalis who fled famine and conflict in the countryside and made it to the Muri camp in the capital Mogadishu said that the aid was taken away from them by local officials, according to the report.

In 2022, donors increased their contributions to Somalia as aid workers issued dire warnings about an impending famine brought on by the region's worst drought in decades which according to studies, may have contributed to up to 43,000 deaths that year.

The estimated UN budget for humanitarian assistance in Somalia is U.S.$77 million, of which U.S.$10.68 million are designated for the World Food Program (WFP).

By far, the biggest humanitarian donor to Somalia is the United States which contributed more than half of the U.S.$2.2 billion in funds for the humanitarian response there in 2022.

In June 2023, the WFP and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) halted food assistance to Ethiopia in response to a widespread diversion of donations. The committee established by the interim regional administration of Tigray to investigate diversion of humanitarian food in the region revealed that the Ethiopian federal government entities and Eritrean forces had higher roles in the widescale food aid diversion.

Ethiopia and Tigray had been at war from November 2020, and signed a peace deal in November 2022. Hundreds of thousands of people fled to neighbouring countries to avoid the conflict and the ensuing food crisis.

The suspension of humanitarian aid to Somalia will affect funding to the WFP, raising concerns about the humanitarian situation in the region.