A Guide to Humanitarian and Development Efforts of InterAction Member Agencies
A Guide to Advocacy, Development and Humanitarian Efforts of InterAction Member Agencies
Produced by the Disaster Response Unit of InterAction ®
American Council for Voluntary International Action
1717 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. #701,
Washington D.C. 20036
phone (202)667-8227 fax (202) 667-8236
http://www.interaction.org
Table of Contents
Map
Background Information
Report Summary
Organization by Sector Activity
Glossary of Acronyms
Organizations:
Action Against Hunger
CARE-USA
Concern Worldwide
International Medical Corps
Save the Children-USA
World Concern
World Vision
Map of Somalia
Map reprinted with permission of University of Texas
Background Summary
Somalia gained its independence on July 1, 1960 when it merged with the former British protectorate of Somaliland. Democracy lasted until 1969 when Major General Muhammad Siyad Barre led a successful military coup that took control of the country. In 1970 Barre nationalized most of the economy and declared Somalia a socialist state.
The Barre regime was successful in keeping the country intact and peaceful until 1977, when ethnic Somalis living in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia began a movement for independence. Somalia heavily supported these rebels both financially and militarily and invaded the Ogaden. The Somalis initially captured most of the disputed region, but lost it a year later to Ethiopia, which had gained the backing of the Soviet Union and Cuba. There were border skirmishes between Ethiopia and Somalia throughout the 1980’s, but these ended in 1988 when both countries signed a peace agreement.
The Ogaden war brought an estimated two million refugees to Somalia. Somalia accepted U.S. humanitarian aid to assist with the refugee situation and general poverty and military aid in return for U.S. rights to use naval facilities in Somalia.
In 1988 armed rebel groups began to oppose the Barre regime. Groups including the Somali National Movement (SPM), the United Somali Conference (USC) and the Ogadeni Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM) arose in opposition to the government. Barre sensing his imminent doom fled the country in 1991 after being driven out of Mogadishu by rebel forces. The power vacuum created by Barre’s departure left the country in chaos with rebel groups battling with the former government and each other for control.
By August 1992 as much as one-third of the Somali population was facing starvation because of drought and famine. In December 1992 US peacekeeping troops were sent in to restore order and allow humanitarian aid to be distributed. U.S. and later UN peacekeepers were unable to bring peace to the country and eventually departed as Somalia remained in chaos.
Factional fighting continued throughout the 1990’s and most humanitarian groups were forced to pull out of the country for security reasons. Natural disasters including flooding and famine increased the suffering in 1997. With the exception of the former British Somaliland, where a local government has achieved domestic peace, much of Somalia continues to be the scene of armed conflict and great suffering. NGO presence is currently very limited.
Background Information Sources: www.arab.net/somalia/history, www.reliefweb.int, www.lcweb2.loc.gov
Report Summary
This guide offers international agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the media and the public an overview of the humanitarian assistance being provided to the people of Somalia by InterAction member agencies.
Five InterAction member organizations currently conduct relief and development operations in Somalia. Eight sector areas are addressed in programming including agriculture and food production, disaster and emergency relief, education/training, health care, human rights and conflict resolution, rural development, landmine awareness and partnership, and capacity building.
These humanitarian activities in Somalia take place in several locations including, but not limited to, lower Shabelle, Middle Shabelle, Mogadishu, Kurtanwarie District, Afgoi, Wanle Wein, Jilib/Labadaad, Hargeisa, Hiran, Bay, Bakool, Gedo, Middle Juba, Bari, Nugal, Mudug, Awdal, Galbeed, Sanag, Sool, and Burao.
The NGOs in this report have presented several objectives for their projects in Somalia. Some of these are: to assist communities to meet their most basic needs of health, food, and agriculture; to improve overall health of the population; and to enhance ongoing rehabilitation efforts underway in Somalia.
Several NGOs work through the support of or in coordination with local and international partners. Some of the organizations mentioned are: UNICEF, UNHCR, Bureau of Population, Refugee and Migration Affairs, the State Department, USAID, European Union, Dutch government, Somalia Aid Coordination Body, British government, Irish government, Youth Groups of Belet Weyne, Somali Red Crescent Society, and El Berde District Health Board and District Authorities.
Organization by Sector Activity
Agriculture and Food Production
CARE
Landmine Awareness
CARE
Concern Worldwide
World Vision
Partnership and Capacity Building
CARE
Disaster and Emergency Relief
Action Against Hunger
CARE
Rural Development
International Medical Corps
CARE
World Concern
World Vision
Education Training
Action Against Hunger
CARE
Concern Worldwide
International Medical Corps
World Concern
World Vision
Health Care
Action Against Hunger
CARE
Concern Worldwide
International Medical Corps
World Concern
World Vision
Human Rights and Conflict Resolution
Save the Children
Glossary of Acronyms
Acronym
AAH Action Against Hunger
CHW Community Health Worker
DFID Department for International Development
EPI Immunization
EU European Union
IDP Internally Displaced People
IMC International Medical Corps
MCH Maternal child care
OFDA Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
NGO Non-governmental organization
OPD Outpatient Department
PRM Bureau of Population, Refugee and Migration Affairs
TB Tuberculosis
UNHCR United Nations High Commission for Refugees
UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund
USAID United States Agency for International Development
WHO World Health Organization
Action Against Hunger
Overseas Office and Contact Information
Jean-Marc Jouineau
Action contre la Faim
4, rue Niepce
75014 Paris
Phone: 14 335-8888
Fax: 14 335-8800
U.S. Office and Contact Information
Jean Francois Vidal
Action Against Hunger - USA
875 Avenue of the Americas
Suite 1905
New York, NY 10001
Phone: (212) 967-7800
Fax: (212) 967-5480
Introduction to Action Against Hunger
Created in 1979, Action Against Hunger (AAH) is a non-governmental, non-political, non-religious and non-profit organization. AAH has four headquarters (France, United States, United Kingdom and Spain). It is present in 38 countries worldwide, providing programs that assist in increasing local levels of nutrition, water and sanitation, food security and health. Action Against Hunger upholds six principles in its work: independence, neutrality, non-discrimination, free and direct access to victims, professionalism and transparency.
Action Against Hunger in Somalia
AAH first entered Somalia in June of 1992. The organization is currently active in Luuq and is one of the few humanitarian organizations left in Mogadishu. AAH is working with local employees to help displaced people in camps as well as residents weakened by years of civil war. AAH is currently fighting malnutrition, primarily amongst the displaced living in the capital. AAH’s main objectives are to develop a network of drinkable water and respond to the food crisis in the South.
The mission in South and North Mogadishu includes programs dealing with nutrition, water and sanitation, and cholera prevention and treatment. The nutrition program consists of intensive feeding centers for 350 severely malnourished children. The water and sanitation program provides for the rehabilitation and chlorination of wells, the setting up of manual pumps, construction and rehabilitation of latrines in the camps, and hygiene education for the local population. The cholera prevention and treatment program provides health education and isolates cases for treatment. The program in Luuq is primarily a nutritional program, which provides 260 children with intensive feeding and provides another 1000 children with supplemental feeding.
The AAH staff consists of ten individuals whose work benefits 150,000 Somalis. Assisting the AAH staff are the European Union (EU), Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), UNICEF and the Department for International Development-UK(DFID).
CARE
Overseas Office and Contact
Scott Faiia,
Country Director CARE Somalia and South Sudan
P.O. Box 43864
Nairobi, Kenya
Phone: (254) 271-8405
Email: faiia@care.or.ke U.S. Office and Contact
Abby Maxman, Deputy Regional Director East Africa and Middle East
151 Ellis Street
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
Phone: (404) 681-2552
Email: maxman@care.org
Introduction to CARE
CARE’s was founded on the principle of affirming the dignity and worth of individuals and families in some of the poorest communities in the world. The organization seeks to relieve suffering, provide economic opportunity, build sustained capacity for self-help and affirm the ties between human beings everywhere. CARE strives for excellence in all of these programs because the people whom they serve, the beneficiaries and donors, deserve nothing less.
CARE in Somalia
CARE has an extensive program in Somalia that seeks to enhance ongoing rehabilitation efforts already underway. The program emphasizes partnership, institutional capacity building, civil society strengthening, economic recovery, education and health programming, and ensuring timely and quality support in partnership with local organizations for necessary emergency and relief activities.
CARE’s programs in Somalia benefit some 350,000 people directly and 1.5 million indirectly. These programs include agriculture and food production, disaster and emergency relief, education and training, health care, rural development, partnership and capacity building, farmer associations and credit, and landmine awareness. CARE has programs in Somaliland and Puntland, as well as central and southern Somalia.
CARE’s program costs run upwards of $9 million which it receives from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the European Union (EU) and the Dutch Government. CARE also works in direct partnership with local NGOs and local authorities. These partnerships, specifically with the local institutions, are a primary focus for CARE because the organization believes that this is the key to attaining sustainable impact.
Some special concerns of CARE in Somalia are food insecurity, depletion of coping mechanisms and donor fatigue.
Concern Worldwide
Overseas Office and Contact Information
Anne O’Mahony, Country Director, Concern Nairobi,
Brookside Drive
Muhuha Green Road
Westlands
Nairobi, Kenya
Phone: 00-254-244-3990
Email: concernk@iconnect.co.ke U.S. Office and Contact Information Rob Williams,
Concern Worldwide New York
104 East 40th Street
New York, NY 10016
Phone: 212-557-8000
Email: infoy@concern-ny.org
Introduction to Concern Worldwide
Concern Worldwide is a non-denominational voluntary organization committed to the relief, assistance and advancement of peoples in need in less developed areas of the world. Concern Worldwide concentrates on the poorest people in its countries of operation, seeking to engage the peoples of both donor and recipient countries more fully in the practical struggle against poverty and injustice in the world. Concern bases its work on the principle that development is a process which occurs in people, proceeds at their pace and is achieved, not given.
Concern Worldwide in Somalia
Concern’s general objectives in Somalia are to enhance and improve the livelihood of marginalized farmers, the quality of primary education and the health of members of local communities. The agricultural and food production program, with an annual budget of $150,000, has been actively distributing seeds and tools to over 2,400 farmers. Another aspect of the program is rebuilding irrigation canals which benefit 4,820 marginalized farmers in twenty villages. The educational program, with an annual budget of $150,000, provides education and training to 4,000 pupils in seven schools. The third part of Concern’s aid to Somalia is through a water sanitation project, which brings clean water to fourteen villages at a cost of $100,000. These three projects are located in Lower Shabelle, Kurtunwarie District, Mogadishu, Afgoi and Wanle Wein.
Concern Worldwide receives its funding from UNICEF, the Department of Foreign Affairs and several small donors.
International Medical Corps
Overseas Office and Contact:
IMC/ Africa Regional Office
Wendy Carlson
P.O. Box 67513
Muthini Road, Near Nairobi National Museum
Nairobi, Kenya
Phone: (254) 256-9931
Fax: (254) 274-6732
Email: carlsonimc@net2000ke.com U.S. Office and Contact
Martin Zogg
Senior Desk Officer
11500 West Olympic Blvd., Suite 506
Los Angeles, CA 90064-1524
Phone: (310) 826-7800
Fax: (310) 442-6622
zogg@imc-la.org
Introduction to International Medical Corps
International Medical Corps (IMC) is a global humanitarian nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and medical relief programs. Established in 1984 by volunteer United States doctors and nurses, IMC is a private, voluntary, non-political, non-sectarian organization. Its mission is to improve the quality of life through health interventions and related activities that build local capacity in areas worldwide where few organizations dare to serve. It offers training and health care to local populations and medical assistance to those at highest risk. With its flexibility to respond rapidly to emergency situations, IMC rehabilitates devastated health care systems and helps bring them back to self-reliance.
International Medical Corps in Somalia
IMC launched Mogadishu’s first American program for emergency medical relief in 1991 in response to famine, flooding, and civil strife and has since expanded its health program throughout the country. Currently, IMC works in Bay, Bakool, and Hiraan regions where it has helped rebuild a network of village posts, trained traditional birth attendants and community health workers, and provided tens of thousands of Somalis with primary health care, lifesaving medicines, and education on nutrition and hygiene. IMC’s goal for its current program is to improve the overall health status of the beneficiary population by expanding immunization coverage, supporting health centers, and strengthening sentinel systems. The program is funded by the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) and the European Community Humanitarian Office, with additional support from UNICEF. IMC works cooperatively with other local, international and governmental agencies. Special assistance has been provided through local partners, including Youth Groups of Belet Weyne, Somali Red Crescent Society, and El Bsrde District Health Board and District Authorities.
Save the Children
Overseas Office and Contact
Ethiopia Field Office Jay Zimmerman - Field Office Director,
PO Box 387
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Phone: (251) 165-3283
Fax: (251) 165-4684
Email: ussave.children@telecom.net.et U.S. Office and Contact
Dr. Neil Boothby
Children in Crisis Coordinator
Save the Children
1620 Eye Street NW, #202
Washington, D.C. 20006
Phone: (202) 293-4170
Fax: (202) 293-4167
Introduction to Save the Children
The organization’s overall mission is to make lasting positive changes in the lives of disadvantaged children.
Save the Children in Somalia
Save the Children works in Northwest Somalia through its Ethiopian office in an effort to improve education and institute peace and conflict resolution activities. The agency’s specific objectives are to improve access to quality basic educational services for children, including particular emphasis on repatriated and female children, and to promote positive practices in local communities and institutions that provide encouragement and protection to children and youth.
The educational and promotion of positive practices programs are funded with $1.2 from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Bureau of Population, Refugee, and Migration Affairs (PRM). Save the Children also cooperates with at least sixteen local NGOs to strengthen their local programs.
Some special concerns of Save the Children in Somalia are the lack of recognition of the Somaliland government, economic failure of North West Somalia and persistent drought.
World Concern
U.S. Office and Contact
Sondra Perkins
Leprosy Outreach Program
Southern Somalia
19303 Fremont Avenue North
Box 33000
Seattle, WA 98133
Phone: (206) 546-7200
Fax: (206) 546-7269
Introduction to World Concern
World Concern works in the areas of relief, rehabilitation and development, to help the recipients in developing countries achieve self-sufficiency, economic independence, physical health and spiritual peace through integrated community development.
World Concern in Somalia
World Concern operates a leprosy program in Southern Somalia through the dedication of two local leprosy nurses in Jilib/Labadaad. In the first six months 1999 this program admitted thirty-six new patients, ten of which were children. In all the leprosy program treated 118 patients in the first quarter of 1999 and 108 in the second.
World Concern also operates two health centers in Somalia. One of the centers is a foot care clinic that is open six days a week. This clinic alone treated 5,415 patients through the first half of 1999. There is also a health clinic that is run three days a week to treat the following conditions: diarrhea, malaria, trauma, intestinal parasites, anemia, respiratory infections, conjunctivitis, live births, antenatal visits and tuberculosis. This clinic helped 6,429 individuals through the first half of 1999.
World Concern works in cooperation with UNICEF, which supplied World Concern with health supplies worth $2,860. The World Health Organization (WHO) provided World Concern with a $10,000 grant for training and 1,450 multi-drug therapy packs.
World Vision
Overseas Office and Contact: Girma Bagashaw
Program Director
P.O. Box 56527
Nairobi, Kenya
Phone: (254) 244-1777/440143
Fax: (254) 244-1706/441819
Email: girma_begashaw@wvi.org U.S. Office and Contact: Jules Frost
Team Leader for East Africa
34834 Weyerhaeuser Way South
Federal Way, WA 98001
Phone: (253) 815-2103
Fax: (253) 815-3442
Email: jfrost@worldvision.org
Introduction to World Vision
World Vision is a Christian relief and development organization committed to: transformational development that is community-based and sustainable focused especially on the needs of children; emergency relief that assists people afflicted by conflict or disaster; promotion of justice that seeks to change unjust structures affecting the poor; strategic initiatives that serve the church in the fulfillment of its mission; public awareness that leads to informed understanding, giving, involvement and prayer; witness to Jesus Christ by life, deed, word and sign that encourage people to respond to the Gospel.
World Vision in Somalia
World Vision’s mission in Somalia is to improve the quality of life in the districts of Sakkow, Bu’alle, Middle Juba Region and Buydhabo District of Bay Region, by assisting communities to meet their most basic needs of health, food and agriculture.
Health Programs
Primary Health Care Program, Middle Juba Region
World Vision continues to support one maternal child health and outpatient department (MCH/OPD) clinic in Bu’alle town, one OPD in Salangetown and a total of 31 Health Posts throughout the Bu’alle District and Salange sub-district. In addition, 29 community health workers (CHW's) and 56 traditional birth attendants have been trained and continue to receive refresher training as well as close support and supervision.
Overall preventative and health care services provided include: immunization of children under three years old and women of child bearing age; nutritional surveillance; supplementary feeding of malnourished children, pregnant and lactating mothers; and management and training of OPD/MCH facilities and all health staff.
Health Care and Tuberculosis Control Program, Middle Juba
During the period October 1999 - September 2001, World Vision hopes to establish a TB Control and Prevention component within the ongoing health services supported in the Middle Juba Region. The establishment of a TB Center and Laboratory in Bu’alle would provide a gradual outreach to six nearby villages.
The program plans to continue with the ongoing preventative and curative services and aims to increase the number of trained health staff to 61 CHW’s and 116 traditional birth attendants along with the establishment of a total of 61 Health Posts and Village Health Committees during the course of the next two years. EPI coverage will be increased so that 80% of children under five and 65% of pregnant women will receive at least two doses of tetanus toxoid.
Agriculture Programs
Agricultural Recovery Program
During the period June 1998- August 1999, World Vision purchased and distributed 311.17 mt of cereal, bean and vegetable seeds and 6,356 farm tools among farmers (including IDP’s) in Sakkow and Bu’alle districts of Middle Juba Region. In addition, the program provided extension services and contact farmer training. Seed multiplication and variety trials were also conducted on one variety of Bulrush Millet, four varieties of Pigeon Peas, two varieties of cassava and two varieties of improved bananas. The program targeted approximately 15,776 farmers in the region (approximately 94,656 individuals).
Assistance will continue to this target group during the period 1 October 1999 – 30 September 2000, distributing approximately 470 mt of cereal, bean and vegetable seed, in addition to agricultural tools, extension services and training, during the course of the next Gu and Deyr seasons.
Emergency Agricultural Recovery Program, Bay Region
World Vision returned to the Bay Region in September 1999 to begin implementation of an emergency Agricultural Recovery Program. The program aims to assist 16,000 farm families (approximately 96,000 individuals) to improve their food production and agricultural productivity through the provision of 400 mt of seeds, 10,200 farm tools, extension services and training, during the next twelve months. Seeds and tool distribution for the upcoming Deyr season began in earnest in October 1999 with the planned distribution of 240 mt sorghum seed and 10,200 tools.
Food Security - Food for Work
In order to increase food security among 9,900 vulnerable households (approximately 49,500 individuals) and prevent further IDP migration in Sakkow and Bu’alle Districts, World Vision aims to distribute 2,673 mt of food through food for work related activities during 1999. Food for work activities include the rehabilitation of check dams, primary feeder roads, water catchment dams and feeder canals.
World Vision’s budget for FY 2000 is $2.7 million, which it receives from the British Government (DFID), USAID, CARE, UNICEF, and the Irish ODA. To successfully complete its mission in Somalia, World Vision has cooperated with UNICEF, and the NGO community in Nairobi and has been an integral member of the Somali Aid Co-ordination Body.