Climate Change Drives Displacement of Thousands of Vulnerable People in Somalia
Mogadishu- Three years ago, 67-year-old Omar made the difficult decision to leave his home in Ethiopia after his family’s livestock perished following a prolonged drought. His situation was made worse by inter clan clashes, which continue to plague the Somalia region of Ethiopia.
Omar arrived in Somalia in 2017, crossing the border on foot. Today, he lives with his daughter and her four children at Kabasa, one of the most impoverished camps for displaced persons in in Doolow, a small town in Gedo region in the southern part of Somalia at the border with Ethiopia.
He is forced to spend the nights in the open as the makeshift shelter he shares with his daughter and her children is too small to accommodate all of them. His daughter works tirelessly to provide for the family. The little she gets from doing menial jobs is never enough.
“Every morning, she leaves the house to go wash clothes and clean houses for very little payment,” says Omar.
Like most women living in Kabasa, she only earns USD 1.50 on a good day. Sadly, there is hardly any work to do and most days she returns home empty-handed.
This is a common situation for refugees and displaced persons residing in camps, many of whom are daily wage earners. Here, a day without work means a day without food.
The humanitarian community estimates that half of Somalia’s population lives below the poverty line, surviving on less than two dollars a day. The income earned is greatly insufficient to provide for the average family of six in Somalia.
Despite the difficulties that displaced families are facing, they are also dealing with another issue they cannot prevent: climate change.
The effects of climate change have already been impacting the region; the changing rainfall patterns and unpredictable weather are just a couple of examples. For vulnerable communities, who depend on natural resources to survive, climate change has become a life-threatening reality.
Climate can change at any time
Earlier this year, the Dawa River in Doolow burst its banks near Kabasa, causing thousands of already displaced families to be displaced once again. The heavy rainfall destroyed their makeshift shelters, that were made of sticks, old clothes, plastic and other discarded materials, and washed away their belongings.
“Our small, bushy shelter disappeared. It was devastating. Two of my grandchildren fell ill as a result,” Omar said with anguish. Many other families like Omar’s lost their properties and valuables. Farmers found their crops damaged and nomads found their livestock killed.
Due to the floods, Omar’s daughter was unable to travel to Doolow town to look for work. With no other choice before him, Omar continues to endure rainy nights in the open.
He has no doubt that the climate is changing and their living conditions are worsening exponentially as a result. “Life here is hard: we have no shelter nor trees to shade us,” he says.
In Somalia, climate change is expected to increase the risk of natural hazards, and in turn impacts access to livelihoods and exacerbates poverty. Due to the country’s struggle in dealing with climatic events and its geographic location, Somalia is one of the countries in the world with the highest vulnerability to climate change.
According to the country’s National Adaptation Programme of Action, Somalia’s temperature is projected to increase up to 4.3°C by the end of the century. Furthermore, climate change is likely to increase the variability of precipitation patterns, resulting in more frequent flooding, storms and cyclones.
These projections are already manifesting. Just recently, Somalia witnessed the strongest storm ever recorded in the country. During the last week of November, Cyclone Gati hit the northern parts of the country, bringing more than a year worth of rainfall in only two days, killing eight people and displacing thousands once more.
“These new precipitation patterns will also have a negative impact on the frequency and intensity of droughts, which if not mitigated, could cause increased desertification, failed crops and livestock deaths,” urges Lana Goral, IOM Somalia’s Migration, Environment and Climate Change Specialist.
Multiple disasters exacerbate the condition of those already displaced
Hafso’s journey is also marked by the effects of climate change. Originally from a rural area in a central region of Somalia, years of conflict, drought and the lack of livestock forced the 52-year-old mother and many others from her community to look for humanitarian assistance outside their towns.
“Here, the climate can change instantly. Suddenly its hot then suddenly it is dry, with uneven rainfall and frequent drought,” she explains.
Hafso remembers the most recent flood as a deeply painful experience as she watched her family’s shelter washed away. “This year’s rains were very intense and left us with nothing. We had to stay with our neighbours since our home vanished.”
This year’s heavy rainfall combined with the protracted conflict, the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 and the upsurge of the desert locust crisis have affected the livelihoods of an estimated 200,000 people. Moreover, flash floods that occurred at the start of year affected an estimated 1.6 million people and displaced over half a million people across the country.
Many of the newly displaced families are now living in overcrowded and congested sites like Kabasa. They have little protection from natural hazards and endure poor hygiene and sanitation conditions. In July 2018, IOM expanded the displacement site in Kabasa to accommodate the increasing influx of displaced persons — a trend that continues to this day.
Assistance for those who need it most
IOM has been assisting displaced families affected by climate change and conflict since the start of its Somalia operations in 2006.
In response to this year’s floods, IOM provided shelter, water and sanitation support to the affected families. Through a cash-based intervention (CBI) and hygiene kits distribution, the Organization reached 12,000 individuals. They received vouchers to purchase shelter items of their choice to construct a more durable structure to live in, including plastic sheets, timber, nails, door locks, door hinges, and wooden poles.
“It took us only five days to construct our new shelter with the help of neighbours,” Hafso explained. For Omar, this is the first time that he can sleep inside his family’s home, sheltered from the outdoors.
Under a new anticipatory action project, IOM has designed activities based on meteorological and climate forecasts and put into place prevention and mitigation activities to reduce the impacts of crises in areas particularly prone to droughts and floods in Somalia.
Unlike traditional humanitarian responses, where assistance is provided after a crisis, the anticipatory model of intervention increases communities’ resilience to the cyclic natural hazards and reduces their need for humanitarian assistance in the most affected areas.
The activities mentioned in this story are possible thanks to the generous funding of the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). Their support has been crucial to implement flood mitigation measures in IDP sites and support flood-affected families with shelter and hygiene kits during 2020.
For more information, please contact Claudia Barrios Rosel, Communications and Graphic Design Officer, IOM Somalia: cbarrios@iom.int
