Regional initiative targets returnees

Some 350,000 internally displaced people struggle to survive in Somalia, 10 years after the central government collapsed in 1991 and the civil war crisis began. Approximately 400,000 Somalis have returned to a precarious existence in their homes in the northwest and northeast, and about 336,000 Somali refugees remain living in camps in the Horn of Africa, as well as in Libya and Yemen. All these people will be targeted in a sub-regional initiative launched by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, UNDP and UNHCR, which aims to provide those returning to Somalia with basic social services like water, education, health care and shelter. The programme will also help create social and economic opportunities for returnees and their communities, a UNDP statement said on 6 July. The statement announced the launch of three new programmes aimed at “supporting the efforts of Somali communities to rebuild their economy, society and livelihoods”.

A second programme aims to help chronically vulnerable populations to generate income through a new project by providing job skills training, micro-credit projects and inputs for agriculture and livestock. It will aim to revive and encourage industries like fishing and animal product processing, and export products like frankincense and henna. A third programme, “Capacity Building for Governance”, will support public administrations and Somali representatives to “strengthen access to information technology, and cooperate with civil society organisations”. UNDP Somalia Resident Representative in Nairobi said of the new programmes that UNDP Somalia was “helping to bridge the gap between emergency and recovery”.