A new report launched today by Somalia—titled the Somalia Health and Demographic Survey (SHDS) Report 2020—offers the country’s decision makers and stakeholders vital information on the health and lives of Somali women of childbearing ages and children. By turning the voices of Somalis from more than 100,000 urban and rural households, as well as difficult to reach nomadic households, into statistics, the report shines a spotlight on the most pressing needs of Somali communities, particularly of women and children. The SHDS report provides information on housing and household characteristics, health, education, marriage, fertility, birth spacing, employment, water and sanitation, health expenditure, chronic diseases, and children’s and women’s nutrition. It also offers information on married women’s knowledge of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and attitudes towards people living with HIV, women’s empowerment, gender-based violence, female circumcision, and adult and maternal mortality.

[2]