Somalia after Live Aid

Somalia is located to the east of the continent, in the Horn of Africa and is one of the poorest countries in the world. The country has been affected by a civil war since 1991 and the situation has been further aggravated by prolonged droughts.

The combination of conflict and natural disasters has eroded livelihoods, caused structural food insecurity, population displacements and extreme poverty. Moreover, as a consequence of civil insecurity and of the absence of a central government, the Somali health and educational systems have ceased functioning. SOS Children has kept up its presence in the country despite the difficult circumstances since 1985.

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Time Line

• 1974-75 Severe drought causes widespread starvation.

• 1977 Somalia invades Ethiopia and attempts to seize the Ogaden region, but fails.

• 1985 SOS Children opens a Children's Village in Mogadishu, Somalia, offering family based care to the increasing numbers of orphans there.

• 1988 SOS Children opens a hospital in Somalia treating 30,000 patients a year.

• 1990 SOS Children launches a major emergency relief operation in Somalia following the outbreak of civil war.

• 1991 Former British protectorate of Somaliland declares unilateral independence. This prompts the start of a lack of effective government for more than two decades

• 2001 UN appeals for food aid for half a million people in the drought-hit south.

• 2004 Tsunami waves generated by an undersea earthquake off Indonesia hit the Somali coast and the island of Hafun. Hundreds of deaths are reported; tens of thousands of people are displaced.

• 2006 Scores of people are killed and hundreds are injured during fierce fighting between rival militias in Mogadishu. It is the worst violence in almost a decade. About 35,000 Somalis escape drought, strict Islamist rule and the possibility of war and flee to Kenya. Amidst the fighting, SOS Hospital in Mogadishu is hit by missiles.
  

• 2007 African Union peacekeepers land at Mogadishu amid pitched battles between insurgents and government forces backed by Ethiopian troops. The Red Cross says it is the worst fighting in 15 years. UN Security Council authorised six-month peacekeeping mission in February. Humanitarian crisis grows

• 2010 UN's World Food Programme (WFP) withdraws from Al-Shabab-controlled areas of southern Somalia after threats to lives of its staff. The maternal death rate stands at 1,000 deaths per 100,000 live births. This is phenomenally high and places Somalia 2nd worst in the world. Only 29% of the entire Somali population has access to an improved drinking water source.

• 2011The worst drought in 60 years hits Somalia; at least four million lives are at threat. Children, SOS mothers and staff are evacuated from the SOS Children’s Village in Mogadishu for their safety during the midst of fighting and violence in Somalia.
  

• 2012 Somalia's first formal parliament in more than 20 years is installed. This new government is internationally-backed.

• 2013 The infant mortality rate remains incredibly high with records showing that there are 101.9 deaths per 1,000 live births. This is the 3rd worst in the world.