Somaliland and they live appalling conditions

Somaliland is also in desperate need, having suffered from terrible droughts, the worst in decades, resulting in the death of hundred thousands of animals, affecting thousands of people already living on the very edge of survival. Somaliland challenges remain daunting. Legacy of civil war, along with mines and unexploded ordnance, still affect some areas while the persistent drought has destroyed the lives of many farmers and livestock owners.

Here are few facts about Somaliland

• Somaliland has a population of ± 3.5 million.

• More than 73% of the Somaliland population live in poverty and 43% in extreme poverty and unemployment are widespread.

• The GDP per head is $226 a head per year. If this figure is divided by 365 days, one can clearly see that people are living on below $1 a day.

• More than 78% of the population have no access to healthcare.

• There are just 61 doctors and 222 nurses in whole country, meaning one doctor per 20,278 and one nurse per 5600 people. All these are urban based.

• 1 out of 4 Somaliland children dies before the age of five.

• Somaliland women are 22 times more likely to die in childbirth than European women are.

• Over thousand of children are maimed, because of land mines.

• Over thousands of Somaliland people are suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome.

• They are malnourished, disease-prone and psychologically scarred by the devastation’s of war.

• Only 17% primary school enrolment, that is, 83% of children in Somaliland are not in school and almost has no education.

• Adult literacy is 25% and 75% of adults cannot read or write.

• Only 28% of the population has access to clean water.

• Average life expectancy is 47 years for men and women (compared to 75 years in UK).

• The decades of war and civil strife have destroyed the infrastructure, leaving the country in complete shambles.

• It is the women and children who are undisputedly the worst victims of the Somaliland tragedy.