With the aim of supporting the most vulnerable populations affected by crisis, IOM Somalia will provide basic assistance including food, non-food Items (NFIs) and multi-purpose cash assistance (MPCA) to help them cover the most urgent needs. IOM will do so through: 

• Provision of food as part of the regional MRP Strategic Objective (SO 1) to migrants at the IOM-supported MRCs in the north of Somalia.  
• Provision of post-arrival support including temporary accommodation, food and NFIs to non-voluntary returnees from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) prior to reuniting with families and communities of origin in Somalia. These services are offered through transit centres in Mogadishu. 
• Disbursements of MPCA for households across various regions. IOM Somalia chose this form of assistance since it is designed to give beneficiaries the flexibility to meet their basic needs according to their own priorities. By its nature, MPCA assistance will offer beneficiaries a maximum degree of choice, flexibility and dignity. It emphasizes a sense of independence in how beneficiaries choose to utilize the support provided. With MPCA, recipients have the ability to address their most crucial basic needs. The entitlement for MPCA is determined to cover 80% of the minimum expenditure basket in Somalia with a frequency of three times. 
• As part of the IOM Somalia flood emergency response, and especially under the pre-impact response activities, unrestricted multipurpose cash assistance will be provided to households living in high flood risk areas. The targeted households will receive one time cash assistance to cover the costs associated with transportation to higher ground.  

IOM will continue co-chairing the CCCM Cluster, as well as co-chairing the Community Engagement and Accountability Task Force (CEA TF) and implementing CCCM activities in Baidoa, Xudur, Doolow, Luuq, Baardheere, Kismayo, Banadir, Belet Weyne, Jalalaqsi, Bulo Burto, Jowhar, Wajid and Berdale. Activities will include, but will not be limited to: 

• Coordination of service delivery through an analysis of needs and gaps, site monitoring, and facilitation of relevant coordination forums at the site and area levels. 
• Site verifications on a quarterly basis, mapping the services available in sites, and monitoring service delivery quality twice a year, or on an ad-hoc basis. 
• Regular review and update of assessment tools and mechanisms to combat site splitting, bush baris, and to review site definition criteria. 
• Enhancement of partners’ coordination and response via advocating for a transition towards area-based CCCM programming, establishing catchment areas of operations, as opposed to site-based programming.  
• Identification and verification of newly arrived displaced households and engage them to ensure they have access to essential information on rights and services. 
• Support to the delivery of life-saving assistance to displaced communities after a shock (such as drought, flood) via identification, verification, and biometric registration of vulnerable households. 
• Regular site safety audits to identify areas of reported risk and implement emergency site improvement projects to minimize protection risks and ensure safety for all population groups including from natural hazard events. 
• Improvement of the living conditions of displaced people by supporting community-led site maintenance assessments, committees, and activities to ensure the upkeep and safety of the physical living environment. Where relevant and when it does not affect community ownership, these activities will be conducted via cash-for-work schemes to also provide temporary income to vulnerable households, to meet their essential needs. 
• In coordination with the local authorities, protection, and the eviction task force, identification and development of new IDP sites where households can relocate when at risk of being evicted. 
• In partnership with housing, land, and property (HLP) and durable solutions actors, strengthening rights for vulnerable populations, via building capacity of local authorities, establishing and strengthening community structures for dispute resolution, expanding access to land tenure security through documentation and technical assistance. 
• Strengthening community self-management and access to information for displaced populations by supporting the establishment (where not already in existence) and strengthening of diverse and inclusive governance structures. 
• Enhancement of community participation and access to vital information via a community radio-listening programme named Sheeko Wadaag. This programme is run by citizen journalists who are collecting transparent feedback, stories, opinions, and information from the community and working with them to develop it into a radio show, which is both broadcast on a local radio station and narrowcast as designated listening stations. 
• Provision of capacity-building on CCCM and related principles to Camp Management Committees, local authorities, and humanitarian partners. 
• Provision of safe and furnished community spaces for Camp Management Committees to host meetings, trainings, events, etc. 
• Amplification of the voices of displaced women and girls via building capacity of community members, raising awareness of barriers faced by women and girls, and contributing to women's empowerment through women-led projects and businesses. 
• Leadership on facilitating the collective accountability of humanitarian response through the implementation of robust inter-agency community feedback mechanisms, using the Zite Manager system for easy tracking, referral, and follow-up of community feedback. 
• Operation of timely and responsive feedback and complaint mechanisms – accessible at help desks in community centres through outreach teams or via a toll-free hotline. 
• Ensuring all staff are trained on IOM's guidance for mainstreaming MHPSS into camp design, set-up and management

IOM will continue to scale up its health and nutrition services to reach communities affected by the interlinkages of crisis in Somalia. The services are primarily aimed at providing primary and emergency health care services, managing and treating severe acute malnutrition (SAM), while reducing morbidity and mortality and improving health-seeking behaviours to prevent disease outbreaks. IOM will provide primary health support to populations in dire need of healthcare services, with a focus on IDPs, hard-to-reach, remote, or conflict-affected areas with limited or no health actors, because the population lacks access to basic life-saving health and curative and preventative nutrition services. Services will be provided through static clinics and mobile teams. IOM will support the operation of seven static healthcare facilities and 21 mobile clinics with integrated nutrition services and community outreach. Health and nutrition services will be provided in line with the national Essential Package of Health Services (EPHS) framework for service delivery. 
Activities will include: 

• Provision of outpatient clinical consultations  
• Provision of routine vaccination to children under 5 years  
• Screening for malnutrition in children under 5 years  
• Treatment of SAM in children under 5 years 
• Provision of health education and hygiene promotion at static and mobile clinics   
• Provision of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services such as consultations for antenatal care (ANC) and post-natal care (PNC), assisted skilled delivery Services, Maternal, Infant, and Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN) services and Referral system. 

Additionally, IOM will continue to support three MRCs and one transit centre. In specific, this will include the procurement of 10 medical kits to assist migrants, including unaccompanied minors. 
 

Through its Migration and Border Governance portfolio, IOM aims to enhance the preparedness and response mechanisms of border management agencies and engage border communities at times of humanitarian crises arising from both natural hazards and human-made disasters. IOM provides States with a comprehensive package of capacity development initiatives to support them in clearly understanding their commitments and obligations when planning a response to crisis with migration dimensions and assists them in implementing rights-based responses that on one side address the needs and rights of crisis-affected migrants, and on the other side the prerogatives of the State to maintain border and national security. Activities will include: 

• Capacity-building for border agencies on humanitarian border management (HBM). The HBM training contains a strong technical knowledge improvement component for border officials to uphold the rights and safety of all migrants crossing the border. IOM plans to conduct trainings on HBM through an approach in line with IOM’s Migration Crisis Operational Framework (MCOF). 
• Developing standard operating procedures (SOPs) for early warning systems by involving state and concerned communities.  

In addition, IOM facilitates the safe, humane and dignified return, readmission and reintegration of Somali nationals through capacity development efforts through existing structures, coordination mechanisms and complementary activities on legal identity. 

IOM focuses on enhancing Somalia's capacities to manage returns, following a rights-based approach to return, readmission and reintegration (RRR) by equipping relevant institutions with the necessary capacity and resources to manage returns.  As per IOM’s Strategy on Legal Identity, this pillar of IOM’s work will include: 

• Strengthening civil registration services to issue proof of nationality and travel document at consular representation.
• Promoting rights-based bilateral (and regional) policies.
• Enhancing consular services to support nationals abroad without documentary proof of legal identity. 

Given the heightened need to promote, protect and support the well-being of crisis affected populations during emergency responses, IOM will provide multi-layered mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services, in-line with the IASC (2007) guidelines for MHPSS in emergency settings. These levels align with a spectrum of mental health and psychosocial needs and range from embedding social and cultural considerations in basic service provision, facilitating community and family support, providing focused supports such as counselling and providing specialized services for individuals with more complex conditions. IOM will do so through: 

• Training healthcare workers and other emergency responders on basic MHPSS skills, principles and approaches, including psychosocial first aid (PFA), supportive communication skills,  the identification and referral of individuals requiring more focused and specialized services.
• Establishing Psychosocial Mobile Teams composed of MHPSS staff and community resource persons who can conduct community-level activities including awareness-raising on key issues affecting the wellbeing of the crisis-affected communities and socio-relational and cultural activities that aim to strengthen collective resilience and natural support systems. Selected team members will also be trained on providing more focused support, including individual and group counselling and the formation of support group where deemed necessary. PMTs will work closely with Protection staff to ensure approaches are aligned.
• Establishing referral pathways at transit and exit points in Hargeisa and Bossaso for those individuals requiring more specialized care. This would require mapping of services and conducting partner capacity assessments.

The movement of crisis-affected populations is central to IOM's activities, which also include the provision of humanitarian movement assistance in emergencies. This assistance will be provided in collaboration with MRCs and Ethiopian consulates in Somaliland and Puntland, and other relevant authorities. The assistance will be broken down as per the following: 

• Provision of voluntary humanitarian return (VHR) to stranded Ethiopian migrants in the north regions of the country. Assistance includes: 
  • Ticket booking and escort
  • Transit assistance as necessary  
• Support to non-voluntary Somali returnees in vulnerable situations from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and spontaneous returnees from Yemen with onward transportation assistance (OTA) in the form of ticketing to reunite with communities of origin in Somalia. 

IOM plans to ensure protection mainstreaming and GBV risk mitigation are integrated across all its operations and programmatic interventions in affected areas, aiming to reduce the risks faced by beneficiaries and improve their access to essential services. Guided by the IOM’s Approach to Protection and IOM’s Institutional Framework for Addressing GBV in Crises, the Protection team will ensure that any response is provided in a way that avoids any unintended negative effects (do no harm), is delivered according to needs, prioritizes safety and dignity, is grounded on participation and empowerment of local capacities. IOM Somalia as the current GBViC Framework champion in the region, will also work towards mitigating the GBV risks and responding to GBV cases through a variety of activities as listed further below. The team has static protection presence across all major IOM sub-offices and field sites and thus will be able to effectively support in the affected areas. The team also has the capacity to deploy protection mobile responses in the surrounding locations and address any protection issues in the area. IOM will conduct sectoral interventions including:

• Protection support in the form of thematic guidance at all stages of the response. The team will ensure that the needs and concerns of all genders and vulnerable persons have been meaningfully taken into consideration and acted upon. In addition, the unit will ensure that mechanisms have been put into place to ensure the participation of the beneficiaries especially the marginalized as well as to capture their complaints and feedback. Capacity-building trainings for IOM staff and partners on the centrality of protection will be done, trainings on protection mainstreaming, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA), safely responding to GBV disclosure, disability inclusion, child protection and MHPSS principles and approaches as detailed in the MHPSS section above.
• Protection presence during IOM registrations and distributions through fast tracking of vulnerable persons, safety audits of venues, protection help desk, and awareness-raising on GBV referral pathways, health referrals, PSEA and MHPSS, in close coordination with the health and MHPSS staff.

In addition to the sectoral interventions, IOM will conduct stand-alone protection interventions among the affected communities. This will involve active engagement with the communities to identify prevalent protection risks and trends. The information collected through these engagements will be critical in the formulation of protection risk mitigation measures tailor-made to the context of the communities. These interventions will aim to assist the affected communities to build their resilience and capacities to identify and mitigate protection risks. Activities will include:  

• Individual protection assistance (IPA) for vulnerable persons
• Protection assessments
• Distribution of dignity kits for women and girls
• Formation of community-based protection networks
• Capacity-building for organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs)

IOM’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) activities aim to enhance the continuation and restoration of access to safe and equitable basic WASH services to the beneficiaries including vulnerable IDP and host communities in multiple regions in Somalia. This access will be enhanced through the following activities: 

• Restoration and building of essential water supply sources such as boreholes and wells that can provide immediate, safe and clean water for communities in the regions affected by natural hazards and conflict. 
• In the hard-to-reach areas, emergency water supply services will be provided as a supplement to the water supply.  
• Establishment of sanitation facilities targeting vulnerable populations including persons with disabilities, women and children that have no access to sanitation services, such as latrines and handwashing stations. Ensuring hygiene and sanitation promotion activities and awareness raising sessions reach as many beneficiaries as possible, especially those in hard-to-reach and at-high risk areas. 
• Enhancement of capacity-building to the FGS, the FMS, community leaders and water committees to improve coordination and sustainability of the newly established WASH infrastructures.  
• Targeting rural communities including newly arrived groups for risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) through community sensitization and training on hygiene promotion practices from the WASH Cluster.  
• Targeting health facilities at points of entry with WASH interventions in close coordination with health staff.  

With an increasing trend of displacement/migration to urban centres related to climatic shocks, insecurity, and better livelihood opportunities, there is a greater need for emergency, transitional or robust shelter and housing to accommodate all new arrivals. IOM will continue the provision of shelter assistance to households who have been displaced across various regions in Somalia. This encompasses:

• Provision of essential emergency shelter materials consisting of two plastic sheets together with related fixing materials, or cash support as an emergency option in sites with no security of tenure, ensuring that individuals and families have the necessary resources to establish emergency shelters targeting 50,000 households.
• Construction of improved emergency shelter in sites with land tenure security for 5,000 families. These structures are purposefully designed for increased durability, ensuring a longer lifespan. They are also structured in a way that allows for potential upgrades to further enhance the shelter units.
• Development of site and settlement planning in both camps and urban settings, upgrading of settlement infrastructure such as improved emergency shelters and transitional shelters as part of a set of activities to reduce risk related to settlement conditions (in coordination with CCCM, WASH, and other sectors).
• Repair and improvement of emergency shelters to a more durable shelter for a total of 1,000 families through community driven approaches, to enhance community resilience and long-term sustainability.
• Provision of transitional and durable shelter assistance which can be incrementally expanded by owners to support with recovery of 2,000 families across Somalia while providing livelihood opportunity for the communities through the project implementation process. Development of suitable shelter typologies and prototypes construction in Somalia, considering scalability, local practices, available materials, community capabilities and climate changes inclusive of addressing the impacts and damage of recurrent natural hazards (including flooding), making them resistant. The aim is to localize shelter solutions, ensuring they suit each community's distinct needs and resources. 
• Provision of essential household items where market is not functional to respond to emergency needs of 20,000 households.

Through its Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), IOM produces data to inform prevention, response and solutions to displacements. The main activities planned for 2024 are under the Flow Monitoring (FM) and Mobility tracking (MT) components:  

• FM captures data on cross border population flows and characteristics of migrants to inform relevant stakeholders on migratory dynamics and protection needs. In 2024, DTM Somalia plans to disseminate monthly FM reports on cross border movements.  
• Under MT, DTM Somalia will implement several exercises: the Baseline 2 assessment (B2), the Emergency Trend Tracking (ETT) tool, the Multi Sectorial Need Assessment (MSNA) and the Transhumance Trend Tracking (TTT) tool. The B2 aims to quantify presence of population categories, reasons for displacement, length of displacement and needs within defined locations at a given time. The ETT is a crisis-based tool that tracks sudden displacement triggered by specific events or emerging crises. The objective of ETT is to help prioritize humanitarian response and to enable partners to deliver rapid assistance. The MSNA aims to collect evidence on the conditions, needs and vulnerabilities of populations of interest through a household survey. The TTT provides regular data on pastoral mobility to contribute to the production, analysis and sharing of information to support evidence-based conflict prevention and mitigation strategies. 
• Additionally, DTM Somalia will continue the development of a Movement Projection Model to forecast potential future displacements. The model is based on the likely impacts of the main displacement factors in Somalia: drought, flooding, conflict, rain and aid delivery. 

IOM will manage the Common Pipeline programme (CP) on behalf of the S-NFI Cluster. The programme provides critical support to S-NFI cluster partners in procuring, prepositioning, and delivering emergency supplies to assist the most vulnerable populations. The program also provides financial assistance to selected cluster partners to distribute core pipeline items, which will help them respond timely to critical needs. Furthermore, the programme works to build capacity of local partners through relevant trainings and technical assistance in coordination with the Shelter Cluster. Activities for 2024 will include: 

• Procuring, prepositioning and providing critical emergency supplies to Shelter Cluster partners to improve the efficiency of the cluster emergency response through coordinated, timely and localized S-NFI assistance.  
• Providing financial contribution to local Shelter Cluster partners to empower local partners and opportunities for local partners to access the CP programme.  
• Providing capacity-building training and onsite support to cluster partners to build their capacity and support the Shelter Cluster’s localization efforts.  

 With the overall objective to enhance the Somali diasporas’ contributions and impact in humanitarian settings by promoting, scaling-up, and enhancing operations and coordination in humanitarian assistance, IOM will focus on: 

• Scaling up outreach to diaspora organizations by organizing and/or attending diaspora outreach and training events.  
• Conducting consultations with key stakeholders on the necessary mechanisms for a Crisis Response Mechanism. 
• Building the foundations for a Crisis Response Mechanism based on consultations including action steps and guidelines.  
• Applying the IOM Framework for Diaspora Engagement in Humanitarian Assistance in one emergency context.  
• Coordination with Clusters and/or IASC entry points, including OCHA and local humanitarian consortiums.  
• Implementation of plan to operationalize functions of the Global Diaspora Confederation (GDC) Hub, including capacity-building trainings and fundraising/crowdsourcing, coordination and advocacy.  
• Producing one research study on a cross-cutting topic related to diaspora humanitarianism, such as climate change.

IOM’s preparedness activities aim to build the capacities and improve the ability of IOM and key stakeholders (e.g., governments, professional response organizations, communities, and individuals) to anticipate and effectively respond to the impact of likely, imminent or current hazards, events or conditions. IOM will adopt a multi-hazard approach, looking at preparedness and early response to all relevant hazards and threats faced by communities, including floods, droughts, conflict, disease outbreaks, fires, among others; and look into establishing system-wide measures for improving disaster preparedness and early response, with timely contributions from all stakeholders, including communities, local authorities, aid agencies, Government ministries etc. To this effect, IOM Somalia will: 

• Provide an integrated intervention to strengthen community-based disaster risk reduction capacity and building the capacity of national institutions, focusing on anticipatory action and response.  
• Ensure support to coordination mechanisms at the national level. 
• Focus on strengthening early warning systems as part of strong anticipatory actions to ensure the proper dissemination of flood warnings, mitigation, and prevention-related information at the national, local and community levels.  
• Support the development of early detection data systems and analysis in disaster-prone areas, to better inform and equip early emergency responses.   
• Expand on the Community-Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) approach that focuses on enhancing community participation and community ownership in disaster risk reduction and linking these to district-level planning.  
• Design and develop evacuation measures for the floods, building onto the anticipatory action projects for floods. 
• Implement and support emergency contingency stock for partners across Somalia to enhance preparedness for rapid and effective emergency responses. 
• Improve and expand DTM’s Movement Projections Model in Somalia to serve as an effective tool for preparedness and planning for eventual displacement.
• Improve the preparedness and capacity of communities to respond to further disaster-related shocks through training and involvement in the selection of safe sites for shelters and WASH-related interventions.  

IOM provides assistance to communities facing heightened vulnerability to inter-communal and extremist violence, conflicts related to natural resource disputes, climate-related insecurity, and exclusion by both governmental and non-governmental entities. These communities are often situated in remote or hard to reach areas. Given the intricate web of challenges that the communities face, IOM’s community stabilization interventions are comprehensive and span across multiple sectors, focusing on improving essential infrastructure, bolstering local government capacity, fostering inter-communal reconciliation, and revitalizing local economic value chains. Moreover, in Somalia, IOM is committed to strengthening cohesion between returning migrants and communities of return (host communities) through the implementation of community-based reintegration (CBR) projects in Hargeisa, Burao, Bossaso and Mogadishu. Community stabilization interventions will include: 

• The implementation of at least four CBR projects  
• Delivery of rapid stabilization support to newly liberated and fragile areas of Galmudug, Hirshabelle, Southwest, and Jubaland States of Somalia to contribute to stability and peace through an integrated stabilization package that provides a bridge to longer-term development interventions. These may include capacity-building for interim authorities, critical infrastructure investment, and basic service delivery through local government, enabling communities and authorities to raise revenue, co-finance local priorities, and jointly manage public goods, services, and natural resources. 
• Facilitation of district-wide static and mobile hybrid community policing programmes: Support production of rapid and credible analysis in hard-to-reach areas: in-depth analysis and granular research on socio-political, economic, and conflict dynamics and drivers, combined with strategic communications, to reduce misinformation and build trust. 
• Support to reconciliation between competing communities: Support to local community leaders and government officials to identify potential local grievances, convene communities to identify solutions to these grievances, and ultimately form community structures, such as District Peace and Security Committees, which can provide a platform to resolve disputes before violent conflict erupts. 
• Facilitation of inter-communal joint investment through matching grants in critical services, infrastructure, and natural resource governance architecture.

IOM supports livelihood restoration and strengthening to mitigate negative coping mechanisms and reduce inter-communal tensions, thereby establishing the foundations for sustainable economic recovery and poverty reduction.
  
Somali displacement-affected communities often face exclusion from market systems in areas of displacement, including livelihoods, lacking access to trainings and skills development activities, as well as social stigmatization, with many still remaining in camps. Moreover, while IDPs continue to face barriers to return, they lack opportunities for local integration, face security and protection risks, among other challenges including lack of identity documentation. IOM proposes to support scaling up and expanding several programmes to Somali IDP populations, which will include: 

Graduation approach support to IDPs:    

• The graduation approach (GA) is a sequenced and time-bound intervention that aims to support IDPs and other vulnerable families, facing multiple levels of economic exclusion, to address some of these exclusion challenges in an effort to build resilience and sustainable livelihoods. The activities in the GA are centred around four pillars, social protection, livelihoods promotion, financial empowerment, and social empowerment. IOM aims to work with Danwadaag consortium partners in supporting vulnerable IDP families through the GA, providing consumption support grants, referrals to services including health, legal, education, rental assistance, protection, MHPSS, livelihoods trainings and a business support grant, or job placement, as well as financial literacy and life skills trainings. 
• IOM Somalia will pilot the integration of an MHPSS curriculum into its engagement with Danwadaag Self Help Groups, with the aim to improve members' ability to cope with multiple stressors and to fully engage with the economic and social elements of the group. Learning from this pilot process will be carried over into how livelihoods and MHPSS activities complement one another across the mission.   

Piloting upskilling Somali IDPs through individual livelihood assistance:  

• IOM Somalia will also pilot a caseload of individual livelihood assistance packages to vulnerable new arrivals to urban areas such as Baidoa and Mogadishu that would focus on providing $500 and $2000 grants to families, and meticulously document the sustainability or impact of these grants, with a view to upskilling IDPs in ways that will benefit them after their return. IOM has worked in Baidoa with livelihood caseloads since early 2023 and has established a number of methodologies and processes to ensure the proper selection and training of beneficiaries who wish to start or expand microbusinesses.    

Community stabilization through support to firms that can employ new arrivals and displaced persons through the Enterprise Development Fund (EDF):  

• IOM proposes to capitalize on the opportunities highlighted in recently conducted market assessments, such as the Building Resilient Communities in Somalia (BRCiS) conducted rural-urban linkages study “Peaks and Valleys Amongst Mountains of Needs” and provide tailored EDF grants to target businesses owned by or who are willing to hire Somali IDPs. The EDF is a multi-donor fund that provides 100% concessional grant financing to firms for labour intensive expansion with a focus on female inclusion in the labour force and financial inclusion for the unbanked. This approach complements the GA and individual livelihoods assistance programming by addressing bottlenecks facing small and medium sized firm owners, capable of absorbing IDPs but who face financial or knowledge constraints in expanding their firm size.   

The housing, land and property (HLP) challenges faced by displaced communities in Somalia are complex, affecting their ability to access and enjoy HLP rights. A significant portion of Somalia’s urban displaced population is housed in informal settlements, of which over 85 per cent occupy privately-owned land without legal guarantees, documentation, or rights. In instances where tenure agreements do exist, they often take the form of informal “gentlemen’s agreements” that can be easily violated, altered or invalidated without prior notice. This precarious situation perpetuates uncertainty, leaving tenants vulnerable without the protection of legally recognised tenancy rights. Supporting HLP rights—in particular, securing land tenure—is at the core of IOM’s approach to creating a supportive environment for lasting solutions to displacement. Recognizing the importance of HLP assistance is vital for achieving long-term and sustainable durable solutions, IOM durable solutions programmes also support the strengthening of local authorities to lead on HLP issues and the resolution of HLP disputes. Further, IOM is committed to sensitizing international and national actors to the centrality of land issues in post-conflict and post-disaster environments. Activities will include: 

• Expansion of access to security of land tenure for DACs and protection from HLP violations such as forced evictions; 
• Provision of technical and material support to state institutions functional in the promotion and protection of HLP rights; 
• Facilitation of access to HLP information and legal services to assist displacement-affected communities to access services, navigate complex procedures, and utilize existing remedies in areas of displacement to enhance their protection; 
• Investment in research, studies, analyses and assessments related to HLP and conduct evidence-based advocacy and policy influence. 

Poor mental health is one of the critical longer-term impacts of crises and displacement and can prevent recovery at both the individual and communal levels. Promoting resilience and wellbeing can be a key driver for durable solutions and crisis prevention. In addition to activities directly geared to improving mental health, there is a need to integrate MHPSS principles and approaches into other areas of transition and recovery to improve these broader outcomes. IOM will focus on:

• Keeping its psychosocial mobile teams described in the previous section active during the recovery phase, so that individuals and communities have access to multi-layered MHPSS interventions.
• Community stabilization initiatives need to consider different psychological, social and cultural elements to be successful. Avenues for integrating MHPSS into CS programming will be explored, including maximizing peer support elements of CBR projects, training staff working on reconciliation activities in MHPSS principles and approaches and looking at the intersection of climate health, community interdependence and mental health.
• As part of peacebuilding and peace preservation, MHPSS will be one of the interventions offered to low-risk former VEO associates as part of their inclusion back into communities.
• IOM will also explore how to best integrate MHPSS into its various livelihoods initiatives. As a starting point, IOM will pilot the integration of an MHPSS curriculum into its engagement with Danwadaag Self Help Groups, with the aim to improve members' ability to cope with multiple stressors and to fully engage with the economic and social elements of the group. Learning from this pilot process will be carried over into how livelihoods and MHPSS activities complement one another across the mission.

In addition, during emergencies and times of crisis, the glaring gaps in mental health services can be laid bare. There is opportunity to strengthen the wider systems that protect and promote mental health and psychosocial wellbeing as part of preparedness. Key actions include:

• Supporting national MHPSS-related priorities. In Somalia, this includes initiatives for integrating MHPSS into primary health care, through the WHO mhGAP training programme. This is a (approximately) 10-day training programme to equip primary healthcare staff to treat common mental health disorders. Beyond funding these one-off training sessions, IOM should focus on also strengthening supervision for trainees, ensuring efficient supply chain processes and coaching staff in the psychosocial and community-based aspects of mental health care.
• Providing holistic support to MHPSS referral partners to meet IOM and other international standards, for example through staff capacity building, infrastructure and supporting the procurement of vital supplies and equipment.
• Advocating for more investment in human and financial resources on mental health at the national level. In the health sector, funds should diversify away from only supporting psychiatric institutions towards community-based care, addressing social determinants of mental health and developing more community-level interventions, like peer support.
• At the policy level, use IOM’s distinct voice to advocate for:
  • Addressing the social determinants of mental health issues, including poverty and marginalization.
  • Incorporating MHPSS into national emergency preparedness and response plans.
  • Creation of initiatives to strengthen these issues within the academic training of service providers.

IOM’s disengagement, disassociation, reintegration and reconciliation (DDRR) programme has been supporting the Government of Somalia to promote rehabilitation and reintegration of low-risk former associates of violent extremist organizations (VEOs), notably Al-Shabaab, since 2013. Building on the experience, the programme seeks to expand its interventions in the area of preventing violent extremism (PVE) to promote peacebuilding in Somalia in a more holistic manner. In 2024, IOM will focus on: 

• Provision of assistance to low-risk former VEO associates and marginalized individuals, especially youth and women, to promote their inclusion into communities through informal education, multi-layered mental health and psychosocial support, and livelihood assistance; 
• Enhancement of the resilience of communities affected by violent extremism through community-driven social cohesion activities and dialogues, community development projects, and peaceful messaging campaigns, as well as developing relevant guidelines to inform programming, such as the finalization and roll out of the social cohesion manual; 
• Strengthening the capacity of the Government of Somalia to develop and roll out national policies and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) mechanisms to facilitate the community-based peacebuilding in Somalia; 
• Extending climate security programming through tangible climate-adaptive stabilization packages in newly and recently liberated areas that link to longer-term development through a functional nexus approach. 

IOM Somalia will target peri-urban and urban areas in transitional emergencies and urban settlements to deliver efficient WASH services that are scalable and sustainable in the long term. This will be implemented through the following activities:  

• Establishment of WASH infrastructures in flood prone areas through the construction and rehabilitation of water systems that mitigate floods.  
• Connecting schools and hospitals to WASH infrastructures through long lasting pipeline activities.
• Enhancement of community participation through hygiene promotion activities such as community clean-ups targeting the youth, schools and public areas in coordination with the local elders for behavioural change.  
• Enhancement of governance systems that enable beneficiary communities to respond to their needs and endure future shocks.

In addition, IOM Somalia aims to contribute to improved resilience for vulnerable communities affected by recurrent floods and drought. This will be done through the following activities:  

• Baseline and flood risk assessments in flood prone areas.  
• Support in strengthening early Warning systems to ensure proper dissemination of flood warning, mitigation and preventive measures at community, local and national levels.  
• Construction and maintenance of water supply sources such as boreholes and shallow wells in drought prone areas. 
• Construction and maintenance of sanitation facilities and provision of hygiene kits to vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities, women and children in areas affected by acute watery diarrhoea (AWD), cholera and waterborne diseases in close coordination with health staff.  

IOM support intends to address the impact of crises resulting in displacement of people by strengthening the capacity of Somalia health system to address the health consequences of crises. The most affected zones (health facilities, health districts, health provinces) will be mapped and supported with capacity building and material to deliver essential emergency health service. Apart from that, health districts experiencing crises, floods, most affected by diseases with epidemic potential will be supported to strengthen community surveillance of diseases with epidemic potential. The early detection and response mechanism will be strengthened by training community health workers and providing ICE material to delocalize Emergency operators in cross-border health districts. IOM will also support cross-border coordination mechanisms between Somalia and its bordering countries for timely information about public health threats. IOM activities will include:

• Establishment of cross-border public health emergency management committees with neighbouring countries.
• Organization of cross-border coordination meetings with neighbouring countries.
• Establishment of a permanent consultation framework with the health authorities of neighbouring countries to facilitate exchange on epidemiological situations and ensure rapid response.
• Baseline assessment and mapping exercise at the cross-border locality level;
• Mapping and categorizing costal, land and airport Points of Entry (PoEs, formal and informal); 
• Mapping of internal and cross-border population mobilities and flows;
• Rehabilitation of PoEs to comply with Infection, Prevention and Control (IPC) standards and limit disease transmission in PoEs;
• Provision of monthly basic equipment to PoEs to meet the standards of prevention and control of infections.
• Training and equipment of community health workers from cross-border health districts targeted by the CEBS;
• Provision of support to 100 Health Districts representatives to provide monthly training supervision to the CHWs.
• Support to health districts with necessary logistics to conduct regular supervision of the CHWs, investigate and manage suspected cases;
• Provision of support to the community leaders to coordinate the transfer of suspected cases identified in the communities to health facilities.

Additionally, under the health preparedness and risk reduction portfolio, IOM will ensure the following: 

• Building health system capacity to prevent, detect and respond to disease outbreaks and health threats, including through the strengthening of surveillance systems and population mobility mapping (PMM); 
• Contributing to preventing and/or responding to climate change related displacement 
• Community events-based surveillance; 
• Data collection and ensuring information is integrated into national surveillance and reporting mechanisms.

IOM seeks to strengthen resilience and reduce disaster losses by investing in awareness, prevention and adaptation to new and existing risks, in alignment with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.  Reducing risk and mitigating effects to upcoming (and expected) crises is critical in Somalia to put an end to the vicious cycle of endless crises that result in increased IDP caseloads and exacerbate vulnerabilities across different social groups and populations. Based on this context, IOM intends to focus on enhancing prevention and mitigation measures in targeted locations to improve the protection of populations in disaster-prone areas of Somalia. Key activities will include: 

• Set up of early warning systems in disaster-prone areas where IOM is present. 
• Implementation of mitigation measures in the fields of health, nutrition, CCCM, and WASH to reduce risks in disaster-prone communities.  
• In flood-prone areas, reducing the impact of flooding through structural and non-structural flood mitigation in camps and host communities. 
• In drought and flood-prone areas, focus on community-based disaster risk management interventions related to WASH to ensure sustained access to safe water and sanitation through environmental protection measures and trainings. 
• Documentation and evaluation of how the different disaster risk reduction activities impact the lives of the communities and the response capacity of the national institutions when they are coupled with participatory approaches and capacity-building exercises.  

Disaster management often relies on external experts and expensive or inaccessible resources. Community-based disaster risk management (CBDRM) is a process of disaster risk management in which at-risk communities are actively engaged in the identification, analysis, treatment, monitoring, and evaluation of disaster risks in order to reduce their vulnerabilities and enhance their capacities. This approach means that the people are at the heart of decision-making and implementation of disaster risk management activities. At its core, CBDRM recognises the importance and specificity of local risk patterns and trends and decentralizes responsibilities and resources for disaster risk reduction to the communities themselves. This process is achieved by reducing the:  

• Probability of failure through risk reduction measures.  
• Consequences of failure, in terms of fewer lives lost, fewer injuries, and reduced direct and indirect damage.  
• Time needed for recovery.  
• Patterns of vulnerability that can develop during the process of reconstruction.  

In 2023, IOM established this CBDRM approach in select locations in Somalia. For 2024, IOM will continue to build on the progress achieved in the previous year and will continue to push for the better utilization of local knowledge, resources, and leadership to equip the population with tools and strategies to reduce risks that challenge their communities. Moreover, the Disaster Risk Management Committees (DRMCs) will still be equipped with the knowledge and skills to develop their Community Action Plans, which will eventually be implemented through community-based projects to prepare for and respond more effectively as the first-line responders to recurrent floods, droughts, and other key identified hazards in their neighbourhoods/ villages.