The humanitarian crisis continues to unfold in Somalia, as the recent El Niño floods have forced 1.2 million* people to leave their homes and settle in already overcrowded IDP sites, with a lack of dignified living conditions and limited access to basic services such as shelter, clean water, and sanitation facilities. According to the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP), an estimated 6.9 million people require humanitarian assistance in 2024.**
Baidoa town, the capital city of Bay region, faced significant challenges due to the influx of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), who have been adversely impacted by floods and ongoing droughts, conflicts, and climate change, hence making the city one of the main centres of the displacement crisis.
In November 2023, torrential rains and flash floods heavily affected Baidoa town, destroying 384 IDP sites***. The floods induced by El Niño climate pattern severely damaged sources of livelihood, shelters, roads, and infrastructure. The floods have exacerbated the challenges faced by the IDPs, who were already facing limited access to basic needs.
In response to the urgent needs of internally displaced communities in Somalia, Acted, with the support of European Commission Humanitarian Aid & Civil Protection (ECHO), has been at the forefront providing life-saving humanitarian services and information management. Through this 12-months project, from May 2023 to April 2024, Acted has reached 70 IDP sites across Somali/land with improved humanitarian information management, Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) and gap-filling activities.
Improve safety and protection for the flood-affected IDPs through site improvement/maintenance activities
The heavy rains during the Deyr rainy season have caused extensive destruction to the internally displaced settlements in Baidoa. These settlements, constructed primarily from plastic sheets, clothing, and locally sourced materials, have thus been heavily affected. Many sites have suffered severe destruction, inducing a significant safety risk for the residents, with no resources to repair or rebuild their shelters.
To improve the living conditions of the IDPs, Acted, with the support of European Commission Humanitarian Aid & Civil Protection (ECHO), provided assistance to affected sites in Baidoa with the distribution of site maintenance tools, waste management kits, hygiene kits, non-food items and with the rehabilitation of 23 gender disaggregated latrines.
Additionally, Acted complemented the distribution of site and maintenance tools with site improvement/maintenance works, which will reduce the risks linked with site layout, environment or presence of dangerous infrastructure, hence improving the safety and protection for site residents. Acted is implementing this activity through a Cash-for-Work (CfW) scheme, involving skilled and unskilled beneficiaries and Site Management Committees (SMCs), strengthened through capacity building training.
Nuurto Aden[1] is 29 years old and a mother of 5 children. With her family, she lives in Hisole IDP site in Baidoa. The severe floods swept away her essential belongings, including food and cooking kits and hardly damaged their shelter. They thus had to sleep in shifts and with neighbors due to a lack of sleeping mats.
Following the severe damage caused by the floods, Hisole IDP camp was one of the locations benefiting from Acted lifesaving emergency support.
Nuurto received site maintenance tools, waste management kits along with non-food items (NFIs) and hygiene kits. Thanks to the site maintenance tools, she was then able to repair her damaged shelter. The hygiene kits and non-food items (NFIs) also enabled Nurto and her family to meet their most urgent needs, while the waste management kits reduced the negative consequences of poor waste disposal (contamination of water and food sources, damage to the local environment, health risks).
Thanks to ECHO’s funding support, Nuurto ’s life was transformed positively, and her story exemplifies how emergency assistance played a critical role in responding to the urgent needs of IDPs following the aftermath of the floods.
Thanks to Acted’s assistance, we now have the means to address our immediate needs and regain stability for our family
Nuurto Said during the interview
Through this ECHO-funded project, Acted provided a comprehensive intervention based on enhanced camp coordination and management framework, as well as improved humanitarian information management, to a total of 91705 beneficiaries (49567 women and 42138 men) in 70 IDP sites across Somali/land. Acted is committed to providing life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable communities in IDP sites including in the hard-to-reach areas.
- At the end of 2023, the heavy rains and floods affected more than 1.2 million people in Somalia, especially in the riverine areas.
- The Somali government declared a national state of emergency in October 2023 after the El Nino induced floods destroyed infrastructures, roads and bridges.
As of March 2023, in Somalia and Somaliland:
23
flood-protected latrines were rehabilitated
17
waste management kits were distributed
45
solar lights were installed
29
firefighting kits were distributed
160
Cash for work workers (skilled and unskilled) have received site maintenance tools in 40 sites in Sout West State and Jubaland
278
HHs (1,668 individuals), received 3 cycles of unconditional MPCA (EUR 90 each) in Jubaland, Kismayo IDP sites
30
gender-segregated latrines were constructed in target IDP sites in Kismayo and Baidoa
1,409
HHs received WASH kits in SWS, Jubaland and Somaliland
601
HHs were provided with NFIs/Shelter kits in SWS, Jubaland and Somaliland
609
HHs received handheld solar lanterns
* https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-situation-report-26-dec-2023
** https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-2024-humanitarian-needs-and-response-plan-hnrp
*** https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/wash-cluster-somalia-2023-el-nino-rainfall-update-baidoa-flash-floods-6th-november-2023
[1] * The name has been changed to protect the identity of the beneficiary
