The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the number of incidents restricting humanitarian access in Somalia fell by 29% in the first three months of 2025, with 44 incidents recorded, compared to 62 incidents recorded in October-December 2024.
OCHA said armed violence remained the main obstacle to aid access. This month’s relief report from OCHA’s office in Mogadishu noted that aid access was severely restricted in conflict-affected regions such as Middle Shabelle, Lower Shabelle, Hiran, and Bari, where heavy attacks by extremist groups, Somali government and Puntland forces, and airstrikes are continuously hampering aid operations for vulnerable people.
OCHA said that aid operations were still severely hampered in remote areas affected by the conflict, meaning that the number of incidents recorded did not fully reflect the extent of the access challenges in the early months of this year.
According to OCHA, the number of conflict-related incidents doubled, from 8 incidents in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 16 incidents in the first quarter of 2025, exceeding the average number of incidents per quarter of the previous year.
