Attachments
NATIONAL SOCIETY PROFILE
The Somali Red Crescent Society is an independent, nonpolitical humanitarian organisation. It was established in April 1963, became a legal entity by presidential decree in 1965, and was admitted to the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in 1969. The Somali Red Crescent has operated continuously during the country’s period of civil war and political divide and is credited for its unity as one National Society notwithstanding the fragile nature of the country. It operates through a network of 19 branches, with activities spread across the country and has unique and continued humanitarian access to areas heavily impacted by inter-clan and regional armed conflict.
More than 5,000 active Somali Red Crescent volunteers are well-placed to engage communities due to their diversity, and the high degree of trust afforded to them. The Somali Red Crescent’s Integrated Health Care Programme (IHCP), with its network of static and mobile health clinics across the country, is a critical provider of health care in the country. In 2022, a total of 61 fixed clinics and 26 mobile clinics provided comprehensive primary health care and nutrition services to more than 1.6 million people, most of whom were women and children (Somali Red Crescent Society annual report 2022).
As an established, well-networked national actor and through its permanent local presence, the Somali Red Crescent plays a crucial role in reaching most vulnerable populations including internally displaced people, and remote and hard-to-reach communities throughout the country with the delivery of humanitarian aid. In 2022, owing to the devastating drought conditions across the country, the Somali Red Crescent embarked on lifesaving assistance to mitigate the suffering of the vulnerable people and reduce the impact of the drought and other climate related disasters. The National Society branches reached 190,850 households with cash grants, 551 households with micro-economic initiatives and 18,190 individuals with agro recovery projects. 1,459 households benefitted from non-food items distributions, and 110,000 sandbags were distributed to Jowhar, Bardere and Beledweyn for flood protection activities (Somali Red Crescent Society annual report 2022).
The Somali Red Crescent Strategic Plan defines four strategic goals, with protection, gender and inclusion as a cross-cutting theme:
-
Develop, promote and strengthen community-based health care programs focusing on preventive, promotive, and basic curative health services
-
Strengthen preparedness, response and recovery services capacities contributing towards saving lives, and reducing the impact of disasters and crisis
-
National Society Development Initiative contributing towards building a strong and resilient National Society
-
Mobilize communities for inclusive and peaceful environment promoting human dignity, protection, safer access, participation, and safety
In 2024, the Somali Red Crescent will further focus on longterm planning for natural hazards and building community resilience and enhancing its Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA) strategy and policy. The National Society’s newly-developed resilience and disaster risk management strategies will be rolled out throughout the branches, as will the IFRC approach on Preparedness for Effective Response (PER). The Somali Red Crescent aims to further strengthen its initiatives on National Society Development, the strengthening of Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA), safeguarding, capacity building of staff and volunteers, revision of National Society statutes, and development of information technology guidelines. The National Society will also focus on branch capacity development to generate income that can cover core costs.