OCHA Situation Report
Somalia: Overview of Humanitarian Environment in Puntland
6 December 2006


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

OVERVIEW OF HUMANITARIAN ENVIRONMENT IN PUNTLAND

Puntland is situated in the north east of Somalia, with the 
administrative capital Garowe located in the center of the region. Other 
major towns include Bossaso, the commercial capital and main port, 
Galkayo and Gardho. In 1998, political leaders declared Puntland an 
autonomous region which in future they hope will be part of a federal 
united Somalia.

There remains an unresolved dispute with Somaliland over the western 
regions of Sool and Sanaag. Access and security in Puntland is currently 
unhindered, although increased sporadic incidents involving 
international NGOs are reported. Most of the access constraints are 
related to bad infrastructure which impacts on access to remote 
hinterland and coastal areas.

In the past, conflict, drought and migration of people (especially prior 
to the civil war in the early 1990s) paralyzed most of the region's 
infrastructures and economic resources.  The last major conflict took 
place in 2002 when two rival factions fought for authority and power in 
the region. While a prevailing stability provides respite from war and 
hope for a better future, the situation in Puntland remains critical - 
financial resources are limited, food security remains a concern despite 
some livelihood recovery, and the vulnerable population is growing.

Rule of law in Puntland remains weak; vulnerable groups particularly 
IDPs and the urban poor suffer regular infringements of their human 
rights. However, progress is being made and in November 2005 the 
Puntland authorities embarked on their first ever Disarmament, 
Demobilization and Reintegration Programme (DDR) with UNDP Somalia to 
strengthen the rule of law and security in the region. The first case 
load of DDR clients entered the preparatory phase in August 2006 and 
will go through six months reintegration process.

Over the last three years, attracted by Puntland's relative stability, 
the number of people spontaneously moving to the area - fleeing the 
south for security, drought and economic reasons - has risen. IDPs and 
returnees in the major towns of Bossaso, Galkayo, Garowe and Gardho have 
put additional strain on the area's limited resources. According to 
reports, this has negatively impacted the standard of living of the host 
communities, who are obliged to assist (with whatever support they can 
provide) through the extensive Somali family network.

In response to the increase in illegal migration from Puntland to Yemen, 
following the end of the monsoon season (April-June), the Puntland 
authorities issued a Presidential Decree on 25 September 2006 
prohibiting human smuggling.  In the first six months of 2006, 5,839 
Somalis and 5,870 Ethiopians arrived in Yemen, and by September, there 
were a reported 4,000 Ethiopians in Bossaso preparing to make the 
dangerous crossing of the Gulf of Aden.  Within days of the issuance of 
the Decree, 1,370 Ethiopians were rounded up in Bossaso and handed over 
to Ethiopian authorities in Galaadi. Reportedly, several of the 
Ethiopians died or committed suicide while being driven in open trucks 
to the border.

KEY HUMANITARIAN ISSUES

The most pressing humanitarian issues in Puntland include lack of basic 
services infrastructure (education, health, water and sanitation), poor 
road infrastructure, improving food security and livelihoods (with more 
support to fisheries), protection and IDPs issues, shelter and HIV/AIDS.

Livelihoods

According to FAO's Food Security Analysis Unit post-Gu Survey recovery 
continues in areas of Puntland thanks to increased herd sizes, reduced 
debt levels and generally improved access to rangeland and water. Still, 
in Bari region, 30,000, in Nugal region 10,000 and along the coastal 
areas of Puntland 20,000 people face an Acute Food and Livelihood 
Crisis. Mechanisms need to be developed to deal with the humanitarian 
implications surrounding the frequent droughts, and response planning 
extended into all areas of Puntland. To encourage economic 
diversification and to allow Somalis to benefit from their coastal 
waters, fishing sector assessments are now complete for Puntland. The 
Somali coastline - the longest in Africa - has so far been exploited by 
artisan fishermen with little large-scale commercial activity taking 
place to benefit local communities. In fact, it is largely foreigners 
that profit from the Somali coastline - it is estimated that Somalia 
loses approximately US$100 million to illegal, unreported and 
unregulated fishing activities, resources that could go a long way 
towards improving the livelihoods of Somalis. Following several years of 
drought in the north, there is increasing need for the humanitarian 
community to continue to support the recovery of pastoral livelihoods in 
the region in the form of debt relief, restocking and the creation of 
alternative livelihoods for people that burn wood to make charcoal. This 
industry has a detrimental impact on the environment, involving the 
cutting down of trees - and further degradation will impact the 
sustainability of the pastoralist livelihood in future.

IDPs

It is estimated that Puntland hosts up to 70,000 IDPs with Bossaso alone 
hosting about 28,140 - the highest in Puntland living in congested 
settlements often with returnees and other urban poor. Conditions in the 
settlements are varied including contaminated water and no sanitation 
facilities, lack of access to basic social services, rampant disease, 
and regular outbreaks of fire/arson. An active inter-agency IDP working 
group - consisting of UN agencies, international NGOs and local partners 
- is providing assistance to the Puntland authorities for the provision 
of humanitarian assistance to IDPs in Bosasso and Garowe, as well as 
looking at the implementation of longer term responses which focus on 
IDP reintegration. To help ensure that monitoring efforts extend to IDPs 
and address their particular protection concerns, local NGOs have been 
trained on the rights of IDPs.  To assist them further, the Guiding 
Principles on Internal Displacement are being translated into the Somali 
language and will soon be published for wide dissemination.

Humanitarian partners are taking all actions possible toward the 
attainment of durable solutions for IDPs. The implementation of the 
Joint UN IDP Strategy for Somalia ensures a linkage between the overall 
improvement of the IDP situation with durable solutions. The strategy 
seeks to enhance protection of IDPs, returnees and other vulnerable 
groups; improve their current living conditions of IDPs; and promote and 
foster durable solutions of these populations living in settlements. 
Heavy rains in Puntland at the end of November, severely affected IDP 
sites in Bossaso. An estimated 4,000 families had their shelters totally 
destroyed by flash floods. An immediate multi-agency response was 
mobilised addressing non-food needs and water/sanitation. Given the 
possibility of more rains to come, a contingency plan has also been 
developed to ensure preparedness to meet any increasing needs or 
potential displacement.

Human Smuggling

In a first step to implement the Presidential Decree, authorities in 
Bossaso began arresting presumed Ethiopian migrants, and in early 
October, forcibly expelled a group of 1,370 back to Ethiopia. 
Following negotiations with the Puntland authorities, a decision was 
made to open a temporary 'transit and processing' centre for Ethiopian 
migrants in Bossaso. Humanitarian partners provided basic assistance to 
these migrants, as well as counselling to identify potential asylum 
seekers, individuals who wished to return home, or anyone with special 
needs (unaccompanied minors, trafficked individuals). In November, over 
200 Ethiopians were identified and returned to Ethiopia with assistance 
from IOM, while Puntland's Refugee Affairs Committee (RAC) began 
registering and referring asylum seekers to UNHCR for Refugee Status 
Determination (RSD) services. By 24 November, 96 asylum seekers of over 
600 UNHCR-counselled migrants were registered by the RAC and processed 
through UNHCR's RSD services. The temporary 'transit and processing 
center' was also officially closed with the RAC continuing to register 
asylum seekers in Bossaso and Garowe for ongoing referral to UNHCR. 
Meanwhile, human smuggling off the Puntland coast continues; between 1 
January and 27 November, 23,024 Somalis and Ethiopians on board 188 
ships have arrived in Yemen.

Gender

The voices of women are frequently not heard as they are not usually in 
decision-making positions within society. On the coast and following the 
tsunami in December 2004, women specifically requested the humanitarian 
community to provide them with fishing boats as they wanted to set up 
fishing businesses. Women are not always allowed to do what might 
benefit the immediate community.

Education and Health

Access to health and education is limited. According to UNICEF an 
estimated 200,000 children (6-14 years) in Puntland are out of school. A 
UNICEF back to school campaign initiative has so far registered 57,000 
out-of-school children (of whom 53.5% are boys and 43.5% are girls). 
Mass illiteracy and lack of saccess to schools means the children are 
more likely to end up in militias or working as child laborers.

HIV/AIDS

The prevalence rate in Puntland is estimated 0.9% and the Puntland AIDS 
Commission established in September 2005 is for the first time playing a 
key role in the review and selection of proposals for the Global Fund 
for AIDS Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) resources of which 44%, will 
be channeled through Somali organizations. About 148 applications were 
received and 38 met the basic selection criteria.  Further assessment of 
the recommended grantees will be undertaken by UNICEF before the grants 
are awarded for the second year of the GFATM.

Access and Poor Infrastructure

Lack of access as a result of poor infrastructure, particularly roads, 
is inhibiting social/economic/political development in Puntland. There 
is an urgent need to build roads and communication facilities so rural 
areas do not remain cut off from the rest of Somalia and the outside 
world. The remote north eastern coastal areas of the region had never 
received any form of humanitarian assistance before the tsunami struck 
in late 2004.

Urbanization and the Urban Poor

Puntland is facing rapid urbanization, which is creating another 
vulnerable group - the urban poor. This group includes destitute 
pastoralists, economic migrants and people who are unable to make ends 
meet through lack of livelihood opportunities. Private sector business 
remains relatively limited so there are few employment opportunities.

Establishment of Armo Police Academy: Rule of Law project

The Armo Police Academy, an initiative of the Armo community and UNDP, 
held its debut graduation in December 2005. Hundreds of people witnessed 
the colorful pass out parade of both men and women as TFG Prime Minister 
Gedi officially opened the Academy. The Academy - located 100 km south 
of Bossaso - is the first of its kind in Somalia in several years.  As 
of April 2006, 151 cadets have been trained of whom 10 were women from 
different regions of Somalia.  Cadets are trained in community policing, 
basic police skills, non-violent disarmament, self-defense, and computer 
lessons over a period of three months. Following their graduation, the 
cadets have now been posted to different parts of Somalia.  The first 
phase of construction of the Academy is complete.  The second phase is 
on-going and includes a dispensary that the local community will have 
access to, dormitories for female and male cadets, two classrooms, 
multi-purpose hall and sports facilities.  Once completed, the training 
facility will accommodate up to 600 officers. As part of UNDP's Rule of 
Law Programme, the establishment of the Armo Police Academy has an 
ultimate goal to develop a professional civilian force able to 
effectively contribute to the restoration of peace while enhancing 
community trust and the provision of high caliber training. Part of 
ensuring the longevity of the Academy is the engagement of former police 
officers to conduct the training.

Humanitarian Partners Working in Puntland and Coordination Mechanisms

The Puntland authorities established HADMA (Humanitarian Affairs and 
Disaster Management Agency) in 2005 to lead the coordination of 
humanitarian interventions in Puntland on a monthly basis. HADMA, with 
the support of OCHA currently coordinates and organizes sectoral 
meetings on: Health, Education, Water and Sanitation, Environment, 
Infrastructure and Shelter, Food Security and Fisheries. The Puntland 
Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation also do some 
coordination in terms of development programmes.

UN agencies operating in Puntland include UNICEF (Health, Education, 
Water and Sanitation, Environment), WFP (Food Distributions), ILO (Road 
Infrastructure Interventions), UN Habitat (Shelter and Infrastructure), 
UNHCR (Refugees, Returnees and Repatriation resettlement), WHO (Health), 
UNDP (IDPs), FAO (Agriculture and Livelihoods), UNESCO (Education), OCHA 
(Coordination, Protection and Advocacy). Some of the INGOs working in 
Puntland include SC-UK, CARE, Diakonia, VSF, UNA, AFRICA-70, ADRA, NCA, 
NRC, DRC, Horn Relief, MSF and CEFA. There are a number of local NGOs 
that serve as implementing partners for international NGOs and UN 
agencies.

Throughout 2005/2006, OCHA Somalia has received funding from: Australia, 
ECHO, Ireland, Republic of Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and 
United Kingdom

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