21 Aug One-day joint mission in Gedo region

On 21st August, two staffs of MoHADM made a one-day mission in Dolow district, Gedo region, for a meeting with the local authorities led by the District Comissioner. WASH, Health, Nutrition, Protection, CCCM, Shelter & NFI and Food Security clusters were represented. During the joint mission, MoHADM found the following key findings and Recommendations:

Need to sustain response, take in new caseloads and contingency planning – The authorities are appreciative about the humanitarian responses and the resources that have already been allocated in averting famine, however, there is a need to sustain the response and also take in new IDP caseloads. On the other hand forecast shows there is probability that rains could trend from normal to below normal, hence, there is a need for contingency planning such as water proofing shelters before the rains.

Need to increase access and address longer term resilience programmes – Dollow town is relatively stable, there is a Government in place that has authority and functioning structures. There are several international organisations based in the town, and it’s the humanitarian hub for Gedo region. Despite the fact many people can reach the town, humanitarian access still remains critical as there are people finding hard to reach places where help is available. The relative stability also makes the town a good candidate for longer term resilient programmes such as investing in education and longer term water supply. The mission visited a primary school that is used by Kabasa IDP settlement children. It was built as a temporary solution but its now the primary education facility for the IDPs displaced by the 2011 drought.

There is need to review current targeting methods – Partners indicated that proper targeting remains a challenge. The mission visited the newly displaced in Kabasa IDP settlement and came across a young single mother, who had come from Ethiopia, with 2 children. She was not receiving food assistance and as such was relying on casual labour in Dollow town to fend for her young family. The children were deemed too healthy to be enrolled in the Nutrition program. She was asked why she was not receiving assistance, she cited that screening for those in need was done during the day when she was busy looking for work to enable to feed her family for the day. She highlighted there were many women in the same situation as her.