By Somali Resilience Program (SomReP) | Project Team
Acknowledgement: We at the Somali Resilience Program (SomReP) would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the generous supporters whose contributions have enabled us to serve the most vulnerable families during the time of dire humanitarian crisis in Somalia. We would also like to thank our partners at the Cooperazione Internazionale (COOPI) for their support in identifying the needs of the vulnerable households in Somalia most impacted by the recent flood.
Context: The year 2023 witnessed Somalia experiencing the worst drought in 40 years and the worst flooding in the last 70 years at the end of the year. Somalia's 2023 humanitarian crisis was dire, with drought impacting a staggering 7.8 million people according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). This extreme weather forced millions from their homes, with estimates exceeding 1 million internally displaced. Drought crippled agriculture, leading to severe food insecurity with over 6.3 million facing acute food shortages, and some areas on the brink of famine. Malnutrition rates soared, particularly amongst children. Somalia's resources were overwhelmed, necessitating a large-scale international humanitarian response to address the crisis.
Somalia's 2023 El Niño brought heavy rains and devastating floods, impacting an estimated 2.5 million people. Over 1.2 million were displaced, with Southwest, Jubaland, and Hirshabelle states suffering the worst. Floods destroyed property, infrastructure, and farmlands, worsening existing food insecurity and raising the risk of disease outbreaks. Humanitarian efforts focused on providing aid to displaced populations.
One of the most hard-hit areas by the floodings induced by the El Niño was Baidoa, the largest city in the South West State of Somalia. The recent flooding in Baidoa, Somalia occurred in early October 2023, caused by heavy rains. The summary of the impact is as follows:
The floods highlighted the vulnerability of displaced populations and the need for improved early warning systems and infrastructure in Somalia. Humanitarian organizations and resilience actors like SomReP provided assistance to those affected by the flood.
Who is my Neighbour? Project Implementation Status Report
In order to reach out to the most vulnerable families impacted by the extreme weather and further exacerbated by the ongoing armed conflicts in Somalia, the Somali Resilience Program (SomReP) pivoted from drought response to the recent flood relief initiatives to ensure that the resources from the humanitarian agencies are well synchronised and the impact is broader. As such, SomReP's consortium member Cooperazione Internazionale (COOPI) conducted spot check visits in November 2023 to the project locations as well as triangulation of information gathered from various flood assessments conducted in Baidoa, the following were observed, with regards to the food security and floods situation in Baidoa:
Based on the above observation, the following recommendations were made by the project team at COOPI:
Project Approach
Considering the total donation size of USD 4,052 received for the Who is My Neighbour? – Somali Drought Crisis Appeal through the GlobalGiving platform (as of February 2024), SomReP and its partner focused on supporting the Bulla Kerrow village, the hardest hit place by the 2023 El Nino weather incident. Therefore, SomReP and its partner agreed on Bulla Kerrow, since it experienced a high number of property destruction and displacement.
Unconditional Cash Transfer remains the top-most priority to boost recovery of HHs that were hit by the floods and could not rebuild even after the end of the rains in late 2023 (please refer to the photographs from the community engagement exercise attached). Bulla Kerrow is still a village that was hardest hit with many having dropped out of livelihood activities and displaced. As such, COOPI on behalf of the SomReP will provide unconditional cash transfers of USD 120 each to 33 households most affected by the recent floods that have been unable to recover from its devastating effects. Based on the local market assessment aftermath of the flood, it is anticipated that USD 120 can help a family regain livelihoods by provision and treatment of goats including daily household essentials like flour, vegetable oils, sorghum, water, and legumes in Bulla Kerrow, Baidoa.
Next steps
The unconditional cash distribution to 33 households from the hardest hit village as well as belonging to the most impacted social groups will be completed by April 30, 2024. The impact stories and multimedia captured during the cash distribution process will be shared by the 31st of May, 2024.
Thank you for all your kind support.
By Somali Resilience Program | Fundraising team
By Somali Resilience Program | World Vision Somalia
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can recieve an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser