UN
A round-up of activities of the UN system in Somalia in June 2021
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Covid-19 response | WHO sustains strengthening capacity for preparedness and response to COVID-19 Since the beginning of 2020, WHO has supported the government of Somalia to develop preparedness and response capacities for COVID-19. In May 2021, 350 health workers were trained on surveillance, case management and infection prevention and control. WHO supported the country to respond to COVID-19 by supplying 12,600 PCR testing kits, 100 sample collection kits, and 38,500 antigen-based test kits which were distributed to test for COVID-19 in remote locations. In addition, 1,840 community health care workers were deployed to conduct community surveillance activities. A total of 57 district rapid response teams investigated 15,743 COVID-19 suspected cases whose samples were tested in WHO-supported public health laboratories within Somalia. Risk communication activities at the community level resulted in 1,945,388 people being reached with risk communication messages. The first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine was administered to 12,441 individuals. |
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Trafficking in persons | UNODC supports Somalia with effective prosecution of Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants UNODC organized a 4-day training (14-17 June) for prosecutors on effective prosecution of Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and Smuggling of Migrants (SOM), as part of the Better Migration Management (BMM) programme, funded by the European Union (EUE) Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) and the Government of Germany (The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development - BMZ). |
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Female Genital Mutilation | UNFPA Somalia is engaging rural communities on the dangers of Female Genital Mutilation UNFPA Somalia is engaging rural communities, through cinema, on the dangers of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and how to end the harmful practice. Many people are turning up to view the movies on FGM and engage in discussions on the practice. |
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Education | UNIDO Somalia conducts STEM training of trainers programme for 150 students in Somalia From 13th to 17th June 2021, UNIDO in Somalia, through funding contribution by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, has worked with HANO Academy and Somali STEM Society to conduct a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Training program in Mogadishu for 150 university students from local universities. STEM Education in Somalia is critical to enhance access to quality training, strengthen productive capacities, resulting into a tangible opportunity to empower young Somali women and men through transformative skills that help stimulate creative thinking and more dynamic problem-solving. |
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Migration | IOM assists unaccompanied Migrant Children Return Home After Months Stranded in Somalia In June, IOM assisted 73 Ethiopian migrants, including 30 unaccompanied minors, to voluntarily and safely return home to Ethiopia. The youngest of the group was only 12 years old. Despite their wish to return, they couldn’t do so by their own means and had been stranded in the port city of Bosaso, Puntland, for long periods of time. Thousands of migrants, mainly from Ethiopia, transit through Bosaso each year en route to Gulf countries, mainly to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where they hope to find better economic opportunities. Upon arrival to Bosaso, some never make the crossing to Yemeni shores and remain stranded in the city living in precarious conditions. IOM and partners are providing life-saving humanitarian assistance to stranded migrants in Bosaso, and helping them to return home through the Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) program under the IOM-EU Joint Initiative project. |
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Gender Based Violence | UN-HABITAT, local government and the EU join forces to combat Gender Based Violence in Mogadishu In a European Union funded initiative, UN-Habitat, through the Benadir Regional Administration (BRA), Directorate of Health and Human Services, held a training on the prevention and response to Gender-Based Violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. The main purpose of this training was to integrate COVID-19 awareness with action against Gender-Based Violence aimed at enhancing the community’s level of awareness and knowledge on how to prevent, respond and refer such cases without risk to those affected. This training is part of a series of trainings being conducted by the BRA in Mogadishu within the ‘EU Response to Health and socio-economic impact of COVID-19 in Mogadishu’ project. |
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Smallholder farmer support | WFP’s new training programme launched to help smallholder farmers June saw the start of a new intensive training initiative to support smallholder farmers in managing post-harvest losses and strengthening market linkages - part of a joint WFP-FAO programme under the technical stewardship of the federal Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. Through the sessions, now underway in Hirshabelle State and set to begin shortly in South West State, agriculture extension workers and a total of 600 lead farmers will be trained; they will then cascade the training to another 6,900 farmers using peer-to-peer knowledge sharing. This is the first step in the Supporting Resilient Smallholder Farming Systems programme, with the Ministry in a lead role and collaborating with WFP and FAO to empower smallholder farmers to both increase their incomes, and improve the local availability of high-quality cereal and pulse crops - enhancing the food security and resilience of their communities. |
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Capacity Development | UNDP supports training of State Parliament MPs on civilian oversight and security issues 15 MPs from Galmudug State Parliament were trained in Mogadishu on the role of parliament in ensuring civilian oversight of the security sector and security-related issues, including the Somali Transition Plan and the National Security Architecture. Similar exercises will be conducted with other Federal Member State Parliaments later this year. |
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Shelter | UNHCR continues to increase its shelter footprint across Somalia As part of its strategy to find decent housing for people living in forced displacement, UNHCR in collaboration with the South West State Commission for Refugees and IDPS (SWSCRI) handed over 111 Transitional Housing Units (THU) to vulnerable families living in Baidoa. The beneficiaries were drawn from the returnees (72), internally displaced (23) and host (16) households. THUs are an innovative and safe solution that offer longer-lasting alternative to temporary family tents. In recent months, UNHCR has constructed more than 600 THUs in areas such as Baidoa, Dollow, Hargeisa, Kismayo and Bosaso. |
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Child labour | UNICEF, ILO join Somalia to boost efforts to end child labour Despite some progress, Somalia has a long way to go to eliminate child labour. Due to economic hardship and lack of decent employment opportunities for family-heads, many families are forced to send their children to work. Even more concerning, some children are recruited by militias or armed groups and forced into dangerous life-threatening roles, such as soldiers, cooks and cleaners. When children have to work at a young age, they miss out on an education, they are deprived of basic health care, and they can be exposed to dangerous work practices and environments. On the occasion of the World Day against Child Labour, Abdiwahab Ugas Khalif, the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs for Somalia called for urgent action to develop a National Child Labour Policy and pave the way for the eradicating child labor in the country. ILO and UNICEF joined the call. |
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Fishing | FAO takes stock of the communities in Hafun that recovers from the aftermath of Cyclone Gati In November 2020, Cyclone Gati – the strongest storm in recorded history – hit Somalia. With winds measured up to 115 miles per hour, the cyclone caused extensive destruction in places such as Hafun town. Sparing only 20 homes, Cyclone Gati destroyed nearly 500 houses in the community, displaced thousands and killed eight people. The storm completely disrupted livelihoods, destroying fishing equipment, killing livestock and ruining crops. In an effort to restore people’s livelihoods, an emergency fishing distribution took place with generous funding from the United States Agency for International Development. Many people, like Said Awale Yusuf, a fisherman from the town, did not anticipate such an enormous storm would wipe out everything including his home, boat, and fishing equipment. http://www.fao.org/emergencies/fao-in-action/stories/stories-detail/en/c/1401177 |
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Humanitarian | OCHA facilitated UNHAS "caravan" missions Following discussions at the Somalia Humanitarian Country Team on enabling access, and with the support of WFP, OCHA facilitated UNHAS "Caravan" aircraft for an initial period of 90 days. The Caravan will enable Somalia humanitarian community to carry out joint access and assessment missions and has already proved instrumental to operations, including from a nexus perspective. As of 28 June, 5 missions incl. UN, INGOs, NGOs - both humanitarian and development - have been conducted to Gaalkacyo, Dhuusamarreeb, Xudur, Berdale and Cabudwaaq. |
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Elections | UN and international partners welcome the successful conclusion of the FGS-FMS Summit Somalia’s international partners welcomed the successful conclusion of the Federal Government of Somalia – Federal Member States (FGS-FMS) summit in Mogadishu. Speaking at the summit on behalf of the international partners, UN Special envoy to Somalia, James Swan, commended Prime Minister Roble for his leadership of the process, the FMS Presidents, the Governor of the Banadir Administrative Region, and other political figures who engaged constructively in the talks. He thanked President Mohamed ‘Farmaajo’ for his appeal to revert to the consensus-based 17 September electoral model. He urged all stakeholders to move forward swiftly to organize inclusive and transparent elections without delay. |
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