Emergency in Somalia: Oxfam’s response
How we are helping people displaced by violence in Somalia.
The two women pictured here are distributing ID cards to internally displaced people in Mogadishu, as part of a programme distributing food and other essentials such as plastic sheeting, jerry cans and soap. Oxfam uses ID cards, in cooperation with community leaders, camp managers and local authorities, because it is an effective way to make sure the most vulnerable receive the help they need.
Photo: Oxfam
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Oxfam’s response targets the most vulnerable people in communities; women, children, elderly people, people with disabilities, very large families and minorities. Here, a man waits to receive assistance during a programme implemented by Oxfam in Mogadishu.
Photo: Oxfam
To respond to overwhelming needs in Mogadishu, Oxfam provided $700,000 and is working with a partner organisation in the city to provide hot meals to the most vulnerable people - mainly women and children who are unable to flee. The programme is currently providing over 50,000 meals a day and operates in 10 of Mogadishu’s 16 districts.
Photo: Oxfam
Providing hard cash has helped displaced people cover their immediate needs. Many of them have used the cash to invest in a small-scale business that enables them to become more self-sufficient, as the woman in the picture has done. Oxfam’s current cash relief programme is benefiting 3,500 households (approximately 22,000 people) in two regions and is expected to expand.
Photo: Oxfam
Cash-for-work schemes allow internally displaced people to work for the benefit of their community at the same time as earning an income. Here, internally displaced people who have received cash through an Oxfam partner organisation, are cleaning their campsite in Afgooye, 50km west of Mogadishu where there are currently approximately 240,000 displaced people. This will maintain good conditions for them and for the host community.
Photo: Oxfam
Oxfam is leading the largest emergency water and sanitation programme for internally displaced people in South Central Somalia. As well as drilling or rehabilitating bore holes (as shown in the picture), constructing 3,000 latrines, setting up systems to pipe water and installing reservoirs, Oxfam partners are currently responsible for trucking 1.8 million litres of water daily in Afgooye and northern Mogadishu, covering the needs of 180,000 people.
Photo: Oxfam
The conflict in Mogadishu has left many with psychological scars. Here, members of one of Oxfam partner organisations conduct counselling for women, many of whom have lost family members or suffered sexual violence as a result of the years of conflict in Mogadishu.
Photo: Oxfam
Delivering aid is not enough. We must constantly review it to check that it is effective. In this way we can ensure that the quality of Oxfam’s work in Somalia can be constantly improved. In this photo, an Oxfam monitor asks a woman whether Oxfam’s support has helped her.
Photo: Oxfam
Since March 2007, Oxfam has invested US$6.4m responding to this emergency in South Central Somalia where there are approximately two million people in need of humanitarian assistance. In 2008, we hope to invest an additional $10m. This will include projects to provide water and sanitation where displaced people are living, helping displaced people (and the communities which are hosting them) to create sustainable livelihoods and additional support and protection to the most vulnerable.
Photo: Oxfam
While Oxfam is delivering assistance to hundreds of thousands of people across Somalia, we and other agencies, are struggling to respond adequately to the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the country. Collectively, aid agencies are calling on the international community and all parties to the conflict to allow the safe delivery of aid, to protect civilians, and to respect the safety of humanitarian workers.
Photo: Oxfam
