Somalia: Actions taken in support of the protection against forced evictions during COVID-19 (As of 7 Sep 2020)

Overview

On 13 April, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia sent a letter to the Prime Minister requesting the adoption of an executive order requesting a national moratorium on evictions in order to mitigate any further risks associated with COVID-19 in Somalia. Although the request is still pending at the national level, a Moratorium was agreed by the Baidoa Mayor on 30 April 2020 and no evictions were reported in Baidoa during the months of May and June 2020, a significant drop from 6360 evictions reported in April 2020. In addition, as a result of the moratorium and coordinated prevention initiatives this year, lease agreements were extended for 19 IDP sites (1,407 households), and an aggregate 1,139 households were protected from forced evictions. Based on eviction vulnerability criteria, post-eviction assistance has been put in place for the eligible households if evicted. Despite the significant reduction in forced evictions across all locations in Somalia, Mogadishu reported a spike in evictions during both the post Moratorium and post Ramadan