Somalia Humanitarian Aid

Somalia: Empowering Internally Displaced Persons through multipurpose cash assistance

In Somalia, heavy rainfall and flooding aggravated by the continuing impacts of previous droughts, have driven 4 million[1] people to high levels of food insecurity (IPC phase 3 and 4 - Crisis or Emergency) between January and March 2024.

The Badioa district, which hosts a significant number of Internally Displaced Persons, has witnessed the devastating impact of the past heavy rains in October 2023, resulted by El-Nino induced floods affecting over 247,000 people in Baidoa town.[2] The floods had exacerbated the challenges already faced by IDPs and the floodwaters had caused severe damage to infrastructure and shelters. With their makeshift shelters destroyed and their limited resources washed away, the situation for displaced people has significantly worsen.

 

Acted has been implementing a BHA/USAID-funded project to provide life-saving support to more than 500,000 individuals affected by drought, floods and conflict in Somalia. The project aims to prevent and mitigate the impact of displacement, including in hard-to-reach areas,​ through a multisectoral approach with Humanitarian Coordination Information Management and Assessment (HCIMA)​, Multipurpose-Cash Assistance (MPCA)​, Food Assistance (FA)​, and Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH)​ activities.

Alert-based cash assistance in response to new emergencies

To respond to crises in a rapid manner, Acted, with the support of USAID, is providing lifesaving assistance to shock-affected vulnerable households to meet their basic needs. Acted is reaching most affected families including communities in hard-to-reach areas with multipurpose cash assistance through mobile money transfers in South West, Jubaland and Banadir. The cash assistance provided enables households to meet their basic needs, including shelter, non-food items, food, as well as any other self-determined critical need of individual households.

 

The provision of these cash transfers will also alleviate barriers to services and basic needs brought about by the loss of livelihoods in the aftermath of displacement and shocks. Additionally, it can contribute to reducing vulnerabilities and the incidence rates of negative coping mechanisms, specifically affecting girls, women and people with disabilities.

After receiving cash transfers for three cycles, I was able to purchase essential items to sustain my family

Madiino

Madiino[3] is a 38-year-old mother raising 9 children. She fled from Biyooley village in the Bakool region in 2023 to Baidoa, in the Bay region as a result of the prolonged drought. Madiino and her family settled in Colcadey IDP camp, which is situated north of Baidoa, where they faced challenges to meet their basic needs. Every day, Madiino used to collect firewood and to carry it on her back, as a method of transportation, to then sell it in the market in order to cover the essential needs of her family.

From December 2023 and February 2024, Acted has provided MPCA assistance in Colcadey IDP site, and Madiino was among the beneficiaries who were supported with three cycles of 120 USD cash transfers totalling 360 USD.

With this cash assistance, Madiino managed to purchase daily meals for her family as well as essential items. She also saved some money and borrowed additional money from relatives to invest in a donkey cart.

Using the donkey cart, Madiino now transports water, firewood, stones for building, agricultural harvest, and is engaged in other income-generating activities. This has enabled her to earn approximately 5 to 8 USD per trip, helping her overcome the challenges posed by shocks and thus fostering resilience.

[1] https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/ipc-acute-food-insecurity-and-acute-malnutrition-analysis-january-june-2024-published-february-15-2024

[2] https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/wash-cluster-somalia-2023-el-nino-rainfall-update-baidoa-flash-floods-6th-november-2023#:~:text=Since%20the%20onset%20of%202023,by%20El%2DNino%20flash%20floods

[3] The name has changed to protect the identity of the beneficiary.

Privacy

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful, so we can improve your browsing experience and the information made available.

You can adjust all of your cookie settings by navigating the tabs on the left hand side.

According to the French law N• 78-17 of 6 January 1978 on computing, data and liberties (CNIL), all users who has deposited nominal information either directly or indirectly, may ask for the submission of this nominal information through a request to Acted Data Protection Officer either by email or in written to Acted DPO, 33, rue Godot de Mauroy, 75009 Paris, France – and have them edited or suppressed.

Terms and conditions of the Acted website are available here.

Manage Your Cookies

Enabling the Strictly Necessary Cookie allows us to save your preferences for cookie settings and ease your browsing experience with us.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.

Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.