ADRA continues to respond to the emergency situation in Somalia, supplementing their existing interventions with additional distributions of urgently needed food and emergency non-food items, the rehabilitation of water points, and water trucking to drought-stricken areas. ADRA's interventions have been carried out in Somaliland, Puntland, and Central Somalia, and have benefitted more than 120,000 people.

ADRA's Somalia office reports increasing rates of malnutrition, especially amongst children. According to the Somalia Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit, there has been a 15 percent increase in the number of child malnutrition cases, with the number of malnourished children now reaching 450,000. Although much of the drought-affected region of the Horn is expected to receive regular rainfall in the upcoming months, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has indicated a below-average rainfall for the greater Mandera triangle (the geographical meeting-point of Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia) during the October through December rains, as well as for the south and central regions of Somalia during the November to January rains. This lack of adequate rains will prolong and exacerbate the emergency conditions. There is expectation that poor conditions will continue into early 2012, and that recovery may not happen until next year's harvest in August.

In Uganda, parts of the country continue to experience acute food shortages, especially in the northern regions. The northern region of Karamoja is amongst the hardest hit and, according to Uganda's Office of the Prime Minister, more than 1 million people in the region are experiencing hunger and/or malnutrition as a result of the drought. The situation in Uganda is expected to worsen as drought resistant crops expected for harvesting in October are now being destroyed by the start of unpredictable rains, hailstones, mudslides and floods. Following ADRA Uganda's needs assessment, the Agency is preparing a six month intervention in the Karamoja region that will provide 5,000 households with food rations including maize mill, beans, cooking oil and salt.

In Kenya, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network notes that food security has deteriorated, in particular for pastoral and agricultural households. An above-average need for emergency assistance is expected to last throughout January of 2012. Although the number of Somali refugees has decreased from 1,300 per day to 800 per day, the country remains overwhelmed by the entry of refugees, as reported by the Government of Kenya.

A recent needs assessment carried-out by ADRA's Kenya office has indicated a number of crucial needs for families in the north. The assessment's findings have revealed the most urgent needs are food and water, health care, shelter, hygiene and sanitation, and livestock feed. The agency is implementing a multi-faceted response to meet these most urgent needs.

The immediate response includes the distribution of food, installation of tanks and the dispatch of water trucks, construction of sanitation facilities and training in hygiene and sanitation, distribution of livestock feed, provision of shelter, medicines and health staff. In addition, the agency will continue addressing development needs related to education, such as providing school kits and trainings for teachers.

The second facet of the response will focus on recovery, and will include drilling boreholes, installing green houses, feed production around water sources for livestock, and the construction of sanitation facilities. This intervention has been planned to take place in Mandera, Wajir, Dadaab, Garissa, Mwingi, Kitui, Kajiado, and Turkana, and an estimated 520,000 people will benefit from the Agency's response.

Updates will be provided as ADRA's response expands.