When Faadumo Cabdi Coofle arrived at Mohamed Mooge A, a settlement for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Somaliland, two and a half years ago, she was pregnant with her sixth child.  Her dreams had been consumed by a drought that engulfed some villages in the northern region of Somaliland and wiped out most of the livestock that her family depended on for their livelihood.

Faadumo and her family are amongst hundreds of IDPs who have been selected by Somaliland’s Ministry of Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (MRRR), IOM and partners for voluntary relocation and integration that will provide a permanent shelter on land donated by the local municipality.

“In addition to transportation, permanent shelters, and land, the families will also receive micro-finance support intended to increase their ability to move beyond day-to-day survival, and towards a sustainable future, in the hope that they can break the vicious cycle of poverty and vulnerability,” explains Dr Samir Hadjiabduli, IOM Head of Sub-Office in Hargeisa.

Working with the Ministry of Health, IOM’s mobile health team will provide free, critically needed, primary health care services, which include ante-natal and post-natal care, day treatment and stabilization prior to hospital referral and medication.

The resettlement operation, which began in mid-December, is expected to take seven weeks to complete.

IDP settlements sweep across the urban landscape in Somaliland.  It is estimated that 84,000 persons are currently living in these camps where living conditions are unbearable.

In an effort to re-establish cities and villages that were destroyed and abandoned after years of conflict and drought, local authorities are persuading IDPs to move to new homes that have been built on the outskirts of towns, so that reconstruction of streets and other basic infrastructure can begin.

A similar operation is expected in the eastern outskirts of Hargeisa where IDPs from Stadium and State House, as well as those living in Burao, where a significant number of IDPs are living in similar conditions as the ones in Mohamed Mooge ‘A’ and ‘B’.

The relocation and reintegration activities are being coordinated by IOM, UNOCHA, UNHCR and international NGOs including the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), in partnership with MRRR, the Mayor of the Municipality of Hargeisa, the local NGO Kaaba Micro-Finance Institute and committee members from Mohamed Mooge ‘A’, and ‘B’ settlements.

With the aim of having MRRR and local government representatives take the lead in future operations, and in an effort to develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) during emergencies, IOM has conducted hands-on training on: preparation of passengers manifests, tagging of belongings, transportation, embarkation and disembarkation screening, loading and offloading of belongings, engaging trained helpers from community, placing security preconditions, preparation and movement of convoy and timely sharing of information with partner agencies and authorities including community committees.

This operation is part of IOM’s Livelihoods Programme and Migration Health Programme, and is funded by the Government of Japan.

For more information or for interviews, please contact

Dr Samir Hadjiabduli
Head of Sub-Office
IOM in Hargeisa, Somaliland
shadjiabduli@iom.int