4.2 The humanitarian strategy
4.2.1 Response Strategy
In response to the deepening crisis and increased needs, the humanitarian community developed a
clear response strategy to better address the immediate needs of the four million people in crisis. The
strategy recognizes that women, girls, boys and men will have different needs for humanitarian aid
and aims to reduce excess mortality and further displacement. The humanitarian response strategy for
2012 concentrates on ameliorating the impact of drought/famine and conflict with an emphasis on
providing urgent humanitarian aid and meeting the needs of those who have already been displaced,
particularly women and children under five, who are disproportionally affected by this crisis and must
be targeted to reduce mortality and protection risks such as GBV.
A humanitarian response strategy was developed by the HCT consisting of three elements:
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Increased access to food by vulnerable and drought-affected populations, with a key
emphasis on support to vulnerable populations in famine areas. A combination of cash
voucher and cash transfer schemes are being deployed to ensure that the amount of food
available at the household level is adequate and will also alleviate the distress caused by
migration and reduce the exposure to sexual exploitation and abuse, particularly for women
and girls.
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Immediate multi-sectoral assistance to address excess mortality. Nutrition, health and
WASH activities are focusing on reducing excess mortality, although their impact will to an
extent be determined by increased food availability at the household level.
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Sustaining livelihoods in critical drought-affected areas through quality seeds, agricultural
inputs and cash-for-work activities, with a particular focus on women and girls.
An overarching element contained within the 2012 strategy is an attempt to mitigate the impact of
displacement by supporting IDPs where they are located. The strategy is also designed to support
people in their own communities to prevent further displacement. The strategy also aims to help build
the conditions conducive to the voluntary return of displaced populations through community-based
assistance at their places of origin.
The response strategy will focus on: the quality improvement of the humanitarian response to
returnees; capacity-building of local authorities and communities in order to increase their capacity
for disaster risk reduction; and consideration of the gender dimension at all stages of the project cycle.
Despite continued severe access challenges in many areas of southern and central Somalia, including
Mogadishu, the scale-up of humanitarian response has been possible. Humanitarian agencies are
developing new multi-cluster programmes and partnerships. Agencies already on the ground in the
most affected areas are scaling up existing activities to reach in situ more vulnerable and at-risk
women, girls, boys and men with life-saving interventions. These actions will mitigate against crossborder pressures and the creation of large and unmanageable concentrations of IDPs while
strengthening traditional coping mechanisms, and enabling host communities to share resources in
areas where this is still possible.
To reduce excess mortality, immediate scale-up of food, nutrition, health, protection, and WASH
activities, along with preparedness for AWD and cholera, is required. Increased access to food is a
priority and all possibilities, including direct distributions, vouchers, cooked meals (wet feeding), and
cash distributions are being pursued. Protecting the livelihoods of populations still residing in the
most-affected areas, particularly in advance of the upcoming planting season, is crucial to preventing
further deterioration and to save lives. Protecting livelihoods will also help build the medium- and
long-term resilience of vulnerable communities, including in poor urban and rural households in
accessible areas of the north.
Emergency, integrated nutrition programmes are focused on treating the most affected, while
simultaneously providing safety nets for other vulnerable populations and improving overall food
access. Experiences has shown that in famine situations, health and WASH interventions, closely
linked to food and nutrition activities, are required to prevent communicable disease outbreaks,
particularly among those on the move and large groups forced to congregate in small spaces. Disease
control through surveillance and early warning, vaccinations, and emergency health services,
including management of health complications of severe malnutrition, are key actions.
Basic NFIs and shelter for the displaced are essential for survival, and will be coordinated with
WASH, nutrition and food interventions to ensure synergy. Protection will be mainstreamed in the
humanitarian response and protection activities will continue to focus on populations on the move, the
prevention of and response to GBV and sexual exploitation and abuse, and family reunification.
Child protection activities will be emphasized through joint education and protection interventions,
and the scaling-up of education activities in advance of the new academic year in September will be
crucial for the thousands of school-age girls and boys who have been displaced. Female teachers will
be targeted for retention and recruitment, due to their direct impact on enrolment and retention of
girls.
The Assessment and Information Management Working Group was established in August. It is a subworking group of the ICWG, and includes members from the UN and NGO community. The group
will focus on regularly updating the survey of surveys, defining common standards for assessments,
and refining inter-cluster rapid needs assessment tools. The main objective is to improve data
collection for both response programming and monitoring and evaluation. In particular, the group
will ensure collection of sex- and age-disaggregated data, and use this information to target the most
vulnerable women, girls, boys and men for assistance and protection.
Establishing accurate and current population figures for Somalia remains a challenge for the
humanitarian community. In 2011, several inter-agency initiatives were conducted in order to revise
IDP population figures in Abudwaq, Adado, Dusamared, Mataban, Jariban and Galdogob districts as
well as in Garowe, Galkayo, and Bossaso towns. Inter-agency efforts are continuing in Mogadishu to
obtain accurate IDP population figures in all sixteen districts. CAP plans are still based on the 2005
UNDP population estimates.
As the crisis is likely to continue well into 2012, funding is required at high levels to support aid
agencies. While some agencies will likely carry over some funding from 2011, others fear a funding
gap in early 2012, while needs will remain high. The first CHF standard allocation of 2012 is planned
for February 2012 to fund the highest priority clusters and activities in this CAP. The second 2012
standard allocation will take place in August 2012.
4.2.2 Humanitarian Access Strategy
Access in 2012 will be defined by the humanitarian community’s ability to engage at all levels with
non-state armed actors, local authorities, and governments. The strategy will focus on access to
populations in need through a two-tiered but parallel approach to negotiations. One tier will continue
to engage at the operational level to obtain access for immediate humanitarian actions. while the
second tier will focus on access negotiations at the highest possible levels of authority. The strategy
recognizes that each region in Somalia has different stakeholders with varied interests; therefore, the
two-tiered approach will be tailored to each specific situation. The result will be to obtain immediate
access to populations, while at the same time negotiating for greater and unimpeded access where
necessary. The HCT’s position on military intervention in Somalia is that further external military
intervention would have a counter-productive impact on access.
4.2.3 Risk Mitigation
In order to ensure accountability of humanitarian operations and establish a systematic approach to
identifying risks and mitigating against the possible diversion of aid, the United Nations Country
Team (UNCT) has introduced a risk management regime. The Resident Coordinator’s Office now
has a unique dedicated Risk Management Unit (RMU) to provide support to the 24 UN entities
working in Somalia, as well as to partners and donors. The RMU and introduction of a common
approach to risk management are designed to further develop and strengthen a harmonized planning
and programming approach among the UNCT, while recognizing and respecting the differing
programmatic requirements. This is also to enable more effective and efficient development and
humanitarian aid to Somalia.
Since 2010, staff throughout Somalia have received training on the principles and methodologies of
risk management. This training has been extended to government partners and enables participants to
understand and identify potential and real risks to programming and will assist in better decisionmaking. The Contractor Information Management System (CIMS) is a UN-wide system that allows
the UN to share information about the quality and integrity of partners. It aims to reduce risks
associated with contracting and improve due diligence processes.
The RMU also provides support when requested to ensure risk management processes and
methodologies are integrated into programme planning (in particular joint programmes) and that there
are systems in place for monitoring risks.
4.2.4 Preparedness and Contingency Planning
Somalia is prone to recurring, periodic man-made and natural hazards, mainly conflict and drought.
Floods also affect parts of the country, although with less frequency and damage compared to the
other shocks. In March 2011, the HCT updated the contingency plan for increased conflict in
southern and central Somalia. A contingency plan will be developed for Somaliland and Puntland and
a hazard mapping exercise is being conducted in Somaliland as part of this process. In the south,
more collaboration with the National Disaster Management Agency will be done to ensure there is
adequate coordination between humanitarian plans and envisaged district rehabilitations plans. The
capacity of field cluster structures to develop region-based contingency plans will be enhanced.
One key challenge in southern and central Somalia is the limited capacity of agencies to act in a
timely manner due to the absence of stocks on the ground. Most agencies have stocks in Kenya and
Puntland. Another limitation is that donor contributions usually only increase when the crisis is being
reported by the international media. The humanitarian community will increase its presence in
Mogadishu, Gedo and central regions, and there will be more focus on prepositioning of supplies. All
cluster response plans have included elements of preparedness. UNDP, FAO, WFP and OCHA are
working on an integrated Disaster Risk Reduction plan in close cooperation with National
Environmental Research and Disaster-Preparedness (NERAD) in Somaliland, in order for
communities and authorities to be better prepared for and able to mitigate the effects of natural and
man-made disasters. Existing early warning systems, such as the disease outbreak monitoring and
response system, and the population movement tracking system, will be strengthened. The CAP 2012
recognizes the possible extension of the current famine to more regions and the cluster response plans
are being developed with this in mind.
4.2.5 Coordination Strategy
Inter-cluster coordination is taking place regularly in Nairobi, Somaliland, Puntland and southern and
central Somalia. Coordination in southern and central Somalia is weaker than in other zones,
although considerable improvement has been made in Mogadishu. The existing ICWG will be
strengthened while efforts will be made to create at least three more similar forums in southern and
central Somalia (in Hiraan, Jubas and Bay). This is contingent on access and the security situation.
However, Mogadishu remains the main focus for strengthening coordination in the south. The GBV
WG in Nairobi is currently focusing on strengthening the GBV WG in Mogadishu through the
Protection Cluster. Two GBV Coordinators will be based full-time in Mogadishu to strengthen
response and coordination due to the increase in sexual violence reported.
The Agriculture and Livelihood Cluster and Food Assistance Cluster will be merged into one single
Food Security Cluster commencing in January 2012 in order to enhance the output of the response to
address food insecurity, malnutrition and livelihoods. Individual clusters will deploy strong field
coordination focal points in Mogadishu. The Health, Nutrition and WASH Clusters will take the lead
due to the increasing number of humanitarian partners. In light of the increased disease risks in
Mogadishu, the Health Cluster will place an international staff member to lead. Other clusters will
increase support with experienced national staff and regular visits from international staff. With the
arrival of many new humanitarian partners, coordination and cooperation needs to remain a priority
and efforts will be continued to ensure participation in coordination structures. Various Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies are coordinated by the ICRC and the Somalia Red Crescent Society (with
some exceptions). The humanitarian forum will continue to ensure that Islamic NGOs engage in
coordination structures. OCHA and the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation will continue to
cooperate closely and strengthen their partnership and benefit from each other’s expertise to improve
coordination on the ground.
Attention will also be paid to coordination with government authorities in Puntland and Somaliland
and with the TFG in the south. TORs have been written for posts in the Humanitarian Liaison Unit
and will be filled. UNDP has provided an additional post in the Disaster Management Agency. There
are on-going discussions between the local district administrations and the TFG. As a result of the
roadmap, the TFG may take a broader national role. There is a great need for tracking humanitarian
receipts by the government as a basic element of coordination and accountability. OCHA is now able
to identify assistance coming into the country through Mogadishu and a tracking system of where the
assistance is delivered will be established.