Attachments
1. Context
Internal displacement in Somalia is primarily an urban challenge, as internally displaced persons (IDPs) flee rural areas affected by conflict, violence and disasters in search of shelter, safety and assistance in city centres and peri-urban areas. The capital city of Mogadishu has the largest concentration of IDPs, with about 500,000 people living in 1,082 sites.1 Urban centres like Baidoa and Kismayo also host sizeable IDP populations.
The Federal Government of Somalia has taken significant steps in recent years to lead efforts to achieve durable solutions for its country’s remaining 2.6 million people internally displaced over past decades.2 In November 2018, the Government established a Durable Solutions Unit within the Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development, later complemented by a National Durable Solutions Secretariat that brings together 14 government entities, including the Office of the Prime Minister. These coordination bodies seek to ensure that IDP durable solutions policies, strategies and programmes are coordinated with and integrated in the National Development Plan, the National Social Development Road Map, and other relevant instruments. In March 2020, the Government ratified the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention). As of October 2020, the Federal Government was developing national IDP legislation, with the support of an international IDP expert,3 and was also finalizing a national Durable Solutions Strategy.
Coordination on durable solutions for IDPs between the international community and the Somali Government takes place under the umbrella of the Durable Solutions Initiative (DSI), launched in early 2016 by the Federal Government of Somalia and the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator (DSRSG/RC/HC)4, with support of the Deputy Prime Minister. This DSI is now transitioning to a fully owned national initiative led by the National Durable Solutions Secretariat.