{"id":8108,"date":"2021-05-20T23:25:52","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T23:25:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/?p=8108"},"modified":"2021-05-23T09:21:09","modified_gmt":"2021-05-23T09:21:09","slug":"somalias-humanitarian-situation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/2021\/05\/20\/somalias-humanitarian-situation\/","title":{"rendered":"Somalia\u2019s humanitarian situation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Background Information<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

There were droughts in the country in 1 9 91\/ 92.That was called \u2018Cagabarar\u2019. There were also droughts and famines in 2011\/12. In this, some quarter million people died.<\/p>\n

There were also some natural calamities such as Elnino [1998] and Lanina. There were also typhoons in Somalia such as one name Haiyan. It killed thousands of livestock.<\/p>\n

Dahir Mohamed lost all livestock. \u201cI lost 1,000 goats; I was with them when the storm started deep in the bush. They all died in dozens, helpless [against] the strong winds. I even feared for myself but thank God I\u2019m safe,\u201d A herder who lost his herd said.<\/p>\n

There are those who lost more than two thousand goats each in this ordeal.<\/p>\n

Human rights violations are common in the country including killing, maiming and rape cases as well as GBV. This is down to poor rule of law and consequential chaos which were there since the onset of the prolonged civil war.<\/p>\n

Armed individuals and militias go on the rampage committing grave human rights violations.<\/p>\n

There are hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees in camps in neighboring countries such as Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Yemen. Due to the war, there are also close to 2 million who flew to other parts of the world where they took different nationalities. They include countries like Egypt, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, UK, Australia, Canada, USA, Dubai and Qatar.<\/p>\n

In the United States, thousands of Somalis are found in the states of MN and Ohio. However, there are also close to three million IDPs inside Somalia.<\/p>\n

They lack basic needs such as enough food, clean water and proper shelters and clothing. The kind of the shelters in their makeshift camps says it all that the level of disparity that is among them is very dire.<\/p>\n

Poor Economy<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The country\u2019s economy is not good due to the civil war, poor infrastructure which has been contributed to by the war due to lack of repair and other negligences.<\/p>\n

However, in general, the country has been praised for its core economic potential including agriculture\u00a0and animal husbandry, trade especially with countries like Dubai and Saudi Arabia, telecommunication and fisheries.<\/p>\n

The number of livestocks has been estimated to have been fifty million in\u00a02011. These include goats, sheep, cattle and camels. It is thought to be more at the moment.<\/p>\n

However, Somalia is in the Third World countries. The Third World countries are countries that were colonized, their economies were shaped somehow by their colonial masters and their economies remained fragile. Many are at war with themselves and hence in a country like Somalia, farming, trading and other economic activities are hampered by conflict.<\/p>\n

People hardly get stability to farm their fields or trade. This is a country that has vast arable lands especially in between the rivers of Juba and Shabelle. Cereals, fruits and vegetable can be grown well in Somalia.<\/p>\n

The country is famous for its very sweet bananas [Somali Banana]. But all of this potentiality has been sabotaged\u00a0 by the chaos which excercebates the current dire humanitarian situation.<\/p>\n

Education<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Generally, education is poor in Somalia. Following the outbreak of the civil war, community education committees took over most of the schools. Individuals also started private schools.<\/p>\n

However, numerous problems had arisen with regard to access to education, management and planning capacity as well as financing. Equipment at schools are in shortage. There are no ample text books visa a vie the number of the students. Classes too are overcrowded.<\/p>\n

Health<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Hospitals too lack proper financing and management leading to shortages in drugs and equipment.<\/p>\n

The Current Droughts [<\/strong>2021]<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

There are severe droughts in the country. Jubaland is the worst hit. Places affected badly by the harsh droughts\u00a0include Kismayo area, Afmadow, Badaade, Elwak, Bardere, Salagle and Buale. Tens of villages and towns and their environs affected. Dams and wells dried up. Hundreds of livestock including goats and cattle die for lack of water and pasture. Scores of people have also been confirmed dead so far by due to hunger and thirst. Some area including\u00a0Elwak reported start of rain but it is not yet enough.<\/p>\n

The Shrinking Humanitarian Space in Somalia<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Humanitarian initiatives are underfunded. Many organizations get little or no funds at all. At local levels, elders and religious clerics are the most who collect the funds for drought victims and the other victims of calamities. They are those entrusted with the collections.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, many complain about biasness in the manner those funds are collected, when collected and for who, some adding that it is who knows who, meaning some collect for only who they know. For example, you go to a mosque to raise a problem needing funds, you are told \u2018sit dew, sit, sit\u2019.<\/p>\n

Corruption might also involve with some of the funds locally collected being diverted to pockets of individuals.<\/p>\n

Bureaucratic Impediments<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

There are bureaucratic\u00a0impediments in terms of funding by the pooled UN funds. The funds outside UN, say those by EU and foundations are the same.<\/p>\n

Eligible organizations are the old organizations who have been on the list over and over again. It takes an entire year to reach the funding circle of the SHF [Somalia Humanitarian Funds], but it is heartbreaking for many organizations as penetration into the list is hard. So, they look up to the funding circle\u00a0a whole year, only to be told, \u2018wait for the next funding circle\u2019.<\/p>\n

But we do work together. We are also humanitarian\u00a0organizations with the same funding needs for our beneficiaries and for retaining our skilled staff. Some organizations never get funding from UN Pooled funds however little whatsoever.<\/p>\n

But leadership in the humanitarian initiatives needs recognition for both our organizations and our humanitarians. That includes funding and being enabled to get funds. How should that happen? It is the organization that is in the list that is the recognized one.<\/p>\n

The leaders in that organization are recognized leaders for sure. Compare them to the poorly funded organizations\u00a0and their leaders; they don\u2019t match at all! We should be more honesty than this.<\/p>\n

Suppose, humanitarians of organizations who work with little or no funds year in, year out. They are in coalition of organizations working to assist vulnerable and destitute people while they themselves have no remuneration and no social protection. After all, African countries have very little social protection mechanisms or\u00a0none at all. The result is, these humanitarians die poor!<\/p>\n

Same is the employment with funded NGOs. It is hard to land a job opportunity with them because of bureaucratic impediments. Many say, the job adverts on the media and social media are nothing but a formality. They already know who they will pick!<\/p>\n

So, the interest of the humanitarian initiatives are distorted outrageously. Funds don\u2019t trickle down to many NGOs working in Somalia which are innovative. For example, Humanitarian Translation for Somalia, HTS, which indeed has many programs including Coronavirus awareness, age and disability\u00a0inclusion among other quality projects.<\/p>\n

While many organizations and humanitarians have only mastered the work of aid food distribution, we have hands on skills on the the above projects and others on emerging issues such as climate change and tackling of misconceptions against the vaccines which are difficult problems. There is a British saying. \u2018Don Not Kill the Goose that Lays the Golden Egg\u2019.<\/p>\n

We need new ideas and new recognized leaders in the humanitarian space in Somalia and for Somalia. We need bigger convergence including the other NGOs active in the UN clusters who were left out in the SHF partners list.<\/p>\n

Another problem is the registration for NGOs which is annual. This means organizations have to renew their registrations every year. This is another kind of impediment. The renewal of registration certificates for NGOs takes for long time.<\/p>\n

Lastly, localization which many humanitarians initially thought would come with advantage solely seems to having challenges facing it too. Many organizations, foundations and donors are like, \u2018oh, you local NGOs want to localize operations. Huh, okay then we are sitting back so you go ahead and we see what yo can do with little or no help\u2019. We are left to our devices.<\/p>\n

Recommendations<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Registration for NGOs should be made open ended. Registration certs should not expire<\/li>\n
  2. Developing partnerships with local NGOs<\/li>\n
  3. Support innovative organizations with good track records<\/li>\n
  4. Pulling together all the active organizations in the clusters by funding them through SHF, giving them sub grants, subcontracts and even assistance in kind such as equipment, vehicles including the new and the old and offices. You have not recognized an organization you denied even little funds from the pooled funds. They are just there.<\/li>\n
  5. Hire humanitarian and experts with merit, not subjecting them to formality lengthy application processes<\/li>\n
  6. Direct funding: organizations should be funded directly.<\/li>\n
  7. Emergency funds should be in place. This year, coordination has it, there is only SHF at the moment<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

    References<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Education in Somalia, Scuola Regina Elina<\/li>\n
    2. Jawed Mohammed Nasir, Medialine<\/li>\n
    3. Devex: Localization and capacity assessment should go hand in hand; Ahmed Mohamed, Oct 2O2O<\/li>\n
    4. Photo showing dead goats killed by Typhoon Haiyan in Somalia. Courtesy of Mahad Omar of formerly\u00a0IRIN<\/li>\n
    5. The New Humanitarian; Disease, Hunger Fears After Somalia Cyclone<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      ………………………………..<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

      This article was originally published on https:\/\/sorangos.wordpress.com\/\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Background Information There were droughts in the country in 1 9 91\/ 92.That was called \u2018Cagabarar\u2019. There were also droughts and famines in 2011\/12. In this, some quarter million people died. There were also some natural calamities such as Elnino [1998] and Lanina. There were also typhoons in Somalia such as one name Haiyan. It …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-articles"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8108"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8114,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8108\/revisions\/8114"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}