OCHA Situation Report
Somalia
Monthly Analysis for August 2006
15 September 2006


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

This report was written in cooperation with the UN Agencies in Somalia

HIGHLIGHTS

The post-Gu assessment by Food Security Assessment Unit (FSAU) in June 
revealed that around 1.8 people - including 400,000 IDPs - are in need 
of critical assistance until the end of the year.  In the month of 
August, WFP and FAO, among other organizations, held a working session 
to discuss response options with regard to food security and livelihoods 
interventions in Somalia. The consultations are part of a structured 
approach by FAO/WFP to the Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP) 2007 for 
Somalia. WFP Somalia has presented a tentative relief food programming 
strategy that will target people in geographical areas with almost 
complete crop failure who are in Acute Food and Livelihood Crisis or 
Humanitarian Emergency.

Several efforts were made by the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) during the 
month to improve security in Mogadishu. Sixteen police stations were 
reactivated which had been under the control of warlord militia. Armed 
vehicles and militia were dispatched to all police stations for better 
management of the Benadir security structure. A ban on carrying guns in 
the streets of Mogadishu was also issued. The humanitarian community 
hopes that these initiatives will translate to better access to those in 
need.

The polio outbreak in Somalia has spread, with 14 of 19 regions affected 
despite a reduction in total cases from 185 last year to 30 so far in 
2006. The current outbreak is a consequence of an importation of the 
virus from Yemen, which threatens to spread to Ethiopia and may infect 
polio-free Kenya and other neighboring countries. Every effort is being 
made to ensure that immunization campaigns are completed to halt the 
circulation of the virus. Rumors of cases of measles associated with 
diarrhea and malnutrition were reported in El Wak District of Gedo 
Region. A team from Gedo Health Consortium visited the area and found 
that those affected were mainly nomadic pastoralists who were not in the 
area during the measles catch-up campaign. The main challenge in the 
area is to improve the weak basic health care as the number of health 
facilities is limited and these are key to delivering essential care 
such as Expanded Programme of Immunizations (EPI) and other Mother and 
Child Health (MCH) services.

Heavy rains in the Ethiopian highlands during the month of August caused 
localized flooding in Jowhar. UN agencies comprising OCHA, UNICEF and 
WFP deployed staff in Jowhar to conduct a joint assessment on the flood 
situation. It is estimated that 30,000 people and 14,000 hectares of 
farm land were affected in 12 villages around Jowhar.

Field consultations for the 2007 CAP took place during the month of 
August in Hargeisa, Garowe and Baidoa, while bilateral consultations 
were held in Mogadishu, in order to ensure grassroots involvement of 
local partners in identifying the most pressing humanitarian needs and 
concerns and in elaborating strategic priorities for 2007. The 
culmination of the field consultations took place at the CAP workshop in 
Nairobi on 30-31 August, which resulted in the identification of four 
strategic priorities which will be used to guide planning and 
implementation of humanitarian assistance in Somalia.

ACCESS and SECURITY

In the month of August, the ICU made efforts to improve security and 
restore law and order in Mogadishu.  On 4 August, 16 police stations 
were reactivated, 39 vehicles and 600 armed militia were deployed to the 
stations. The ICU banned all unauthorized political gatherings, and 
advised foreigners to provide two weeks notice before visiting 
Mogadishu. On 8 August, the ICU issued a ban on carrying guns in the 
streets of Mogadishu unless registered with the courts.

In Baidoa, despite the presence of a large number of TFG militia, the 
security situation remained fragile and unpredictable. A World Vision 
International (WVI) national officer was killed on 4 August by a gunman 
at a road block between Baidoa and Bur-Hakaba town. On the same day, a 
member of Bur-hakaba district council was shot dead by gunmen in revenge 
for the killing of the officer. This led to the closure of Bur-hakaba 
district to all UN staff by UNDSS, disrupting access to various parts of 
the region. On 21 August, Baidoa prison security guards and local 
militia clashed at Baidoa prison, resulting in 3 hours of rioting and 
severely restricted movement in Baidoa town. UN missions were 
temporarily suspended. Reports indicate that the violence started when a 
group of militia attempted to release one of the 10 suspects arrested 
for the July assassination of a TFG minister. The rioting ended through 
intervention by elders and the TFG.

On 4 September, nine people were killed and a number wounded when 
fighting broke out between militia allied to the TFG and local militia 
at the airport in Baidoa, seat of the TFG. The fighting was reportedly 
sparked by TFG demands that local militia relinquish control of the 
airport. The government-allied militia eventually took command of the 
airport and expelled the local militia. Discussions are reported to be 
taking place between the TFG and clan elders over future control of the 
airport.

During the month of August, several threats from Luuq and Garbaharey 
were received by UN offices in the field. The messages included threats 
to shoot down UNCAS planes and kidnap UN staff. On 21 August there was 
shooting at Garbaharey airstrip during the drought-response Real Time 
Evaluation (RTE) that took place during the month. The reason for the 
shooting is unknown. UNDSS has closed Garbaharey and Luuq airstrips to 
all international and national staff until further notice. Dollow 
airstrip was opened as an alternative for UN flights.

Following calm in the Mogadishu area in August, the measles catch-up 
campaign was successfully completed in six districts, including Waberi, 
Hamar Jajab, Hamarweyne, Yaqshid and Huriwaa. According to preliminary 
results, over 95% of the targeted children were reached during the 
exercise - the best coverage reached in Mogadishu during the last 15 
years.

The ICU sanitation committee successfully carried out a clean-up 
campaign in Mogadishu and its environs. Other cleaning activities 
carried out by ILO, in partnership with SAACID, are also ongoing in 
Mogadishu in collaboration with district commissioners and neighborhood 
communities.

Recurrent inter-clan fighting over water resources, roadblocks and 
localized floods affected access in parts of Lower Juba.  Fighting 
within Gadsan/Biyamal subclan on 20 August affected access in west 
Kismayo. On 24 August, floods cut off Kismayo - Kamsuma road at Mogambo 
village.  In Afmadow, the road connecting Afmadow to Dhobley and Kismayo 
was improved using HornRelief /AFREC cash for work project.

In response to the localized flooding in Jowhar caused by the heavy 
rains in the Ethiopian highlands, UN agencies comprising OCHA, UNICEF 
and WFP deployed staff in Jowhar on 23 August to conduct a joint 
assessment on the flood situation. It is estimated that 30,000 people 
and 14,000 hectares of farm land were affected in 12 villages around 
Jowhar. Meanwhile the new administration of ICU in Jowhar, with 
assistance from UNICEF, distributed 10,000 sand bags to the 
flood-affected population.

In Upper and Lower Juba, the floods cut off an estimated 600 hectares of 
recession farms planted with off-season crops, the main livelihood of 
these communities. OCHA met with other agencies, to establish the number 
of sandbags needed for Juba and is coordinating regular updates of the 
flood situation. UNICEF indicated that it has 30,000 empty sand bags in 
Jowhar, of which 20,000 could be immediately dispatched to Juba. UNICEF 
also distributed treated mosquito nets to 776 families in 8 villages 
around the China Canal. WFP indicated that they are ready to implement 
food-for-work or, during the harvest period.

In Middle Shabelle and Juba, it is anticipated that river levels will 
increase within the next three weeks due to the onset of Deyr rains. 
Localized flooding has also been reported in four villages (Towfiq, 
Mustaqbal, Dacaraha and Muruqmal) in Kurtunwarey district/ Lower 
Shabelle region with 70 hectors of farmland flooded. No data on the 
number of people affected is available.

PROTECTION

UNHCR Somalia continued to monitor population movements. The month of 
August witnessed movements within Mudug and Nugal regions (including 
Galkayo) as a result of growing tension between the ICU and Puntland 
authorities.  There have also been reports of population movement from 
Ethiopia Region 5 towards various IDP settlements in Galkayo due to clan 
conflicts and lack of livelihood opportunities.

Cross-border movement into Kenya continues to be high. UNHCR Kenya 
confirmed 2,995 people (up from 2,677 in July) crossed the border during 
the month of August.  SEDHURO, a local None Governmental Organisation 
(LNGO) reported that 797 people crossed into Kenya from Liboi between 
1-15 August. Most were young boys and girls coming from Mogadishu. The 
people used mini buses to reach the border through the Mogadishu - Jilib 
- Liboi route to Dadaab Refugee Camp. The cumulative number of new 
arrivals reporting to refugee camps in Dadaab for the period 1st January 
2006 to 01 September 2006 is 10,082 families, comprising 21,303 
individuals.

The high level of continuing rain in catchment areas of the Shabelle 
River are early warning indicators that there will be further flooding 
in Lower Shabella Region, affecting the communities of Danyerey and 
Darsalam in Awdghle District.  During the month, flooding in the South 
of Jowhar District due to the bursting of the Shabelle River banks 
caused the displacement of 1,900 people. The villages most affected were 
Garashka, Tuugarey, Beeyxaaw, Raqeyle, Mangay and Bardhere. Over 6,000 
hectares of farmland were destroyed. This has had a significant impact 
on the livelihood of people. In Garaskha village, huts were also 
damaged. Further, there were reports of flooding in Lower Juba due to 
the Juba River overflowing. Displacements were reported of populations 
moving to areas surrounding Jamame and Kiamsuma villages. Most of those 
affected were from the minority Bantu community residing in the area.

In the month of July and August, 40 families (92 individuals) were 
voluntarily repatriated from Yemen to Bossaso. The majority of the new 
returnees (64) were females. UNHCR, together with WFP and DRC, assisted 
these new returnees upon their arrival to Somalia with transport and 
food rations.

The development of a protection monitoring system in Somalia is a 
cornerstone of the UNHCR/IASC protection response plan and a key tool of 
the UN joint strategic plan to address the needs of IDPs. Identification 
of partners for inclusion in the Protection Monitoring Network was 
completed for Somaliland and it is expected that the identification 
process will be completed for Puntland and South/Central during the 
month of September.

A workshop on IDP Profiling, organized by the Protection Cluster under 
the auspices of the IASC Somalia, took place in Nairobi on 8 September. 
The workshop followed the full-desk review of existing data on IDPs 
conducted by UNCT/IASC in June-August 2006 in an effort to develop an 
inter-agency framework for collection and analysis of IDP-related data. 
This review took stock of existing information and reviewed gaps in 
order to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of IDP assistance and 
protection needs. Working group sessions for Puntland, Somaliland, 
Mogadishu and South/Central took place at the workshop, presenting their 
recommendations on regional IDP priority needs and priority locations 
for the next profiling exercise. Final recommendations from the 
profiling exercise will be submitted to the IASC for review and 
approval, and IDP Profiling pilot initiatives in Somalia will begin in 
October 2006.

UNHCR Somalia together with UNDP has initiated a Legal Clinic for IDPs 
in Somaliland. This initiative will focus on advocacy and will provide 
legal support to internally displaced persons and refugees through the 
Legal Clinic at the University of Hargeisa Faculty of Law. UNHCR with 
the support of Danish Refugee Consortium (DRC) has launched a Small 
Grant Fund for partners to support a population tracking initiative. In 
addition, UNHCR has finalized the arrangements for the launch of three 
projects related to income generation, health and crop production in 
South/Central and one income generation project in Puntland. These 
interventions commenced on 1 September and aim to facilitate the 
reintegration of returnees; they will also benefit local communities.

On 16 August a fire broke-out at Bulo Mingis IDP settlement in Bossaso 
causing loss of property and shelter for 312 families. Agencies based in 
Bossaso (UNDP, UNICEF, UNHCR, WFP, UN-Habitat, DRC and a LNGO SWRU) were 
quick to respond but the cause of the fire was not immediately 
identified. Those affected were given wooden building materials to begin 
reconstructing their homes but on the same day masked gangs stole some 
of those materials from the IDPs.

The situation was further complicated by reluctance on the part of local 
authorities to allow UN agencies and NGOs to meet freely with IDP elders 
and the authorities' initial refusal to the above agencies to visit 
areas affected by the fire. These issues were raised during recent 
meetings between UN representatives and Bossaso authorities and will be 
followed up at high level. In Somaliland, a similar fire erupted in 
State House IDP camp on 17 August, burning three houses to the ground 
and partially burning six others.

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