Oxfam GB :: Where we work - Somalia/Somaliland

What we do: Campaign for change; Emergency response; Development work; Why we do it

Issues we work on: Climate change; Conflict and natural disasters; Health; Education; Debt and aid; Gender equality; The right to be heard; Global Food Crisis; Trade; Private sector

Where we work: Countries we work in

The impact of our work: In words and pictures; On video

Special features: History of Oxfam; Oxfam myths exposed; Take the Oxfam Quiz; Reshaping our world

Somalia/Somaliland

Cash-for-work road-building Tsunami project near to the (coastal) town of Bender Beyla, northern Somalia. Photo: Andrew Njoroge

In Somalia, Oxfam's work includes public health, humanitarian responses, and providing water supplies.

Emergency update: East Africa Food Crisis

Reaching out to vulnerable communities

Years of conflict have forced thousands of Somalis from their homes.

Recurrent drought, particularly in Puntland, continues to threaten the livelihoods of thousands. Many badly-affected communities have lost livestock and are struggling to support their families.

How Oxfam is helping

We have been distributing animals to families most in need, and carrying out special cash-for-work projects (where we pay local people to work on vital community projects) to improve both the local infrastructure, and people’s spending power.

The main purpose of our work was to save lives, and we did just this. Aid at the right time can help, but this is a permanent problem.what [we] need is longer-term work, droughts don't just happen overnight.

Ahmed Ibrahim Abid, Oxfam Public Health Engineer

Other work in Somalia / Somaliland

Providing essential supplies to those worst-affected by ongoing conflict within Somalia

Learn more

Read more examples of our work in Somalia / Somaliand:

Crisis in Somalia

Oxfam is extremely concerned that a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in Somalia and that the situation continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate.

Learn more about the situation and Oxfam's response

Tsunami crisis

While loss of life was less than in other affected countries, the tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean on 26 December 2004 hit the livelihoods of coastal communities in Somalia particularly hard.

Road networks were destroyed and people’s already fragile livelihoods were badly affected. Many fresh water sources were contaminated with salty seawater.