Somalia Crisis Response Plan 2025 - 2026

CRP last updated: February 24 2025
$297,625,250
Funding required
5,980,000
People in need
4,997,636
People Targeted
420
Entities targeted

IOM strives to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain human dignity in Somalia by supporting safe and dignified living conditions for people in situations of displacement due to disasters and conflict. IOM seeks to strengthen preparedness and address the drivers and longer term impacts of crises, integrating the efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change. IOM will continue to respond to crises when assistance is requested by the Government and will work with civil society actors to create conditions for recovery, stabilization, social cohesion, peacebuilding, and durable solutions to internal displacement.

Women gather water from a water kiosk in Beer-jiron Camp, Baidoa, Southwest © IOM Somalia / Moustapha Negueye 2024

INFORM Risk 

8.9, Very high 

INFORM Severity 

5, Very high 

Human Development Index 

193 of 193 

State of Fragility Extreme fragility

The migration and mobility landscape of Somalia is dynamic, diverse, and complex, characterized by seasonal migration, regular and irregular migration, and a large internally displaced population. Migration drivers in Somalia are multiple and interconnected, with a range of push and pull factors such as persisting unemployment, large diaspora population, conflict, natural hazards, climate change and environmental degradation.  

Somalia remains one of the most complex and protracted humanitarian crises in the world with 6.9 million people in need of humanitarian assistance (HNRP 2024). Among those, 80 per cent are internally displaced persons, 65 per cent are children, and over 50 per cent are women and girls. According to IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), in September 2024, 3,262,080 people  were internally displaced due to recurrent droughts, floods, conflict and the presence of non-state armed groups, insecurity and forced evictions, making it one of the highest numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the world (IOM DTM 2024; IDMC Internal Displacement in Africa (2009-2023)). In addition, the scheduled withdrawal of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), which is expected to be completed by December 2024, will create a security vacuum, with downside risks to be especially pronounced, reducing humanitarian access and increasing the cost of humanitarian operations in Somalia.

Climate change and natural hazards are also long-term drivers of internal displacement in Somalia.

As an active member of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Cluster system, IOM ensures that project activities are in line with the Inter-Cluster Coordination Group (ICCG) and the priorities of the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) and the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT). 

IOM plays an active role in coordination with other humanitarian actors. IOM serves as a co-lead for the Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster, a co-chair of the Information Management and Assessments (IMA) Working Group, a co-chair of the IDP Working Group, co-chair of the Community Engagement and Accountability Task Force (CEA TF), a member of the UNCT/HCT, as well as an active member of the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), Health, Nutrition, Shelter and Non-Food Items (SNFI), and Protection Clusters. IOM is also an active member of the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Sub-Cluster, the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) and Disability Inclusion Technical Working groups as well as the Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) Inter- Agency Taskforce.  

As part of a wider commitment to  coordination efforts while supporting localization IOM has implemented partnerships with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs) such as Somali National Women’s Organization and Somali Union of the Blind, which implement protection, GBV and disability inclusion activities across Somalia. Within the cluster system, IOM has the unique role of managing the Common Pipeline established by IOM in 2023 for in-kind shelter and non-food and WASH items. With this pipeline, IOM is pre-positioned to answer any sudden crisis onset with kits, but is also ready to resort to its existing network of partners that are well-trained through their experience with the Common Pipeline. IOM also serves as the co-chair of the Operational Cell (OC) that has been established to enable area-based coordination in 10 priority districts identified by the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP). 

The CCCM Cluster aims to be a coordinating platform for camp management partners while also supplying vital data to various stakeholders, such as the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), to further support the overall humanitarian response. The CCCM Cluster currently has seven sub-national cluster coordination hubs, with South West State and Jubaland serving as two hubs co-led by IOM.

Since 2006, IOM Somalia has established a strong track record in the delivery of frontline services to crisis-affected populations, while steadily developing models and partnerships for longer-term recovery. As the UN Migration Agency, IOM collaborates with partners to address the diverse mobility dimensions of crisis in Somalia, seeking to deliver on the promise of migration, while supporting the world’s most vulnerable. The mission maintains a strong operational presence in all regions of the country through a multitude of projects implemented by over 1,000 staff in seven offices, with its head office in Mogadishu and support office in Nairobi. Since 2017, IOM has expanded its humanitarian efforts, delivering aid in areas such as camp coordination and camp management, shelter, health, WASH, protection, and mental health. 

IOM’s large footprint in the field is possible thanks to the  utilization of third-party contractors who are able to access hard-to-reach locations. In addition, recruitment of third-party staff from project locations ensures acceptance and continuity of projects and enables the Organization to respond quickly in areas that are difficult to access. IOM implements activities through a mixed approach of direct and indirect implementation as it partners with national and civil society organizations. IOM in Somalia has established implementing partner agreements with over 70 organizations. 

IOM Somalia focuses on addressing humanitarian needs and reducing vulnerabilities linked to longer-term interventions through protection-sensitive and conflict-sensitive programming; supporting durable solutions for displaced populations, tailored to local needs and priorities; and contributing to peacebuilding, and addressing drivers of instability and conflict, and the impacts of climate change. IOM supports government and civil society actors to create conditions for stabilization and to manage safe, orderly, and regular migration, including in pursuit of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This includes interventions related to tailored protection responses to vulnerable individuals, in particular women, girls and persons with disabilities;, the safe and dignified return and sustainable reintegration of migrants, including providing services through Migrant Reception Centres (MRCs) and building the capacity of the staff in those centres; integrated border governance (IBG) including humanitarian border management; and humanitarian support to climate-and conflict-affected Somalis, specifically IDPs and vulnerable migrants.

The Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) is the primary partner for all of IOM’s activities in Somalia. This is reflected in the renewed Memorandum of Understanding that IOM Somalia signed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in July 2024.  IOM designs and implements its activities in close coordination with the FGS, Federal Member States (FMS), UN partners, international and national NGOs, civil society organizations (CSOs), and other relevant stakeholders. Strong and stable relations with the authorities of the host country are essential for access and acceptance.  

IOM invests heavily in capacity development of the government by seconding staff to the Somalia National Bureau of Statistics (SNBS) and the National Commission for Refugees and IDPs (NCRI), and further supports these entities with material and equipment. The Organization also has binding relations with Somalia Disaster Management Authority (SoDMA) and NCRI through letters of understanding and memoranda of understanding.  

At the federal level, IOM interacts directly with the Ministry of Planning Investment, and Economic Development (MoPIED), the National Independent Registration Authority (NIRA), the Ministry of Internal Security, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, the Ministry of Health,  the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, the Ministry of Public Works, the Immigration Citizenship Agency, the Department of Diaspora Affairs (DODA), and the Durable Solutions (DS) Secretariat. IOM also engages at the state level with the line Ministries such as the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, and at the local level with mayors’ offices and district commissioners. 

IOM supports the Government to ensure that basic social services are equally accessible to all, including to people on the move, especially in crisis settings. IOM facilitates coordination under the lead of the Government and HCT, and provides equipment for emergency responses including health, WASH, education, protection, shelter, CCCM and early recovery. IOM also works on government-led solutions and has supported local and federal authorities deliver policies and programmes, and it has made a tremendous contribution to improve data and analytics for solutions. This expertise has played a role in rebuilding trust between displacement-affected communities and national institutions, and in maintaining durable solutions as a high priority on the agenda of policy-makers in Somalia.

Impact story
Women collecting water at a newly built water point. Photo: © IOM 2024
Women collecting water at a newly built water point. Photo: © IOM 2024
Transforming lives through access to clean water

Relentless droughts have drained the Banaadir region's water sources, forcing female residents to embark on exhausting, health-threatening treks to find clean water. To address these dire conditions, IOM constructed four boreholes and a 3,000-meter pipeline network to expand water distribution through 80 newly constructed kiosks. To ensure longevity, user committees comprised of displaced and host community members were trained to manage and maintain this critical infrastructure. Zahra and thousands of other residents in the region now have sustainable access to water for their families and livestock, saving lives and revitalizing communities. Read more

Key Operating Modalities
Participation and empowerment Conflict sensitivity Integrated Programming Collaboration and partnership Localization Cash-based interventions
Cross-cutting priorities
Data and evidence Protection Mainstreaming Gender Equality Prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse Disaster Risk Climate Change Law and policy

IOM is committed to the localization agenda by encouraging humanitarian responses that provide more support for the leadership, delivery and capacity of local responders and participation of affected communities in addressing humanitarian needs. IOM is also committed to the localization agenda beyond humanitarian response to ensure that local and national actors continue providing a local perspective to IOM programming while ensuring programme sustainability.

IOM regards affected populations as partners and recognizes their dignity and capacity and empowers them in the efforts that matter to them. A participatory approach will continue to be applied to increase accountability to affected populations. All activities will be supported through the meaningful participation of the affected populations, where communication strategies are developed collectively to ensure appropriate outreach and communication to different segments of the community. IOM’s approach is based on a dynamic combination of local embeddedness, interdisciplinary expertise, and operational depth.

Objective 1 - Saving lives and protecting people on the move
Saving lives and protecting people on the move

$182,899,100
Funding required
3,600,000
People Targeted
344
Entities Targeted
Primary target groups
Internally displaced person
Local population / community
International migrant

IOM will work to alleviate human suffering through support to populations who remain in displacement, whether in camps or out of camps, mainly in rural areas; host communities in areas of displacement where services are inadequate or overstretched; IDPs who wish to return to their areas of origin or who have already returned in their areas of origin but are facing severe conditions such as residual insecurity, damage to properties and public infrastructure, limited access to services and livelihood opportunities, and fractured social relations; and vulnerable refugees, returnees and migrants. Based on evidence collected on displacement trends and drivers, IOM aims to reduce risks and vulnerabilities of affected populations by focusing on rapid and integrated humanitarian assistance and enhancing the quality and relevance of the SNFI, protection, MHPSS, WASH, CCCM, and health assistance to assisted populations, ensuring a dignified approach  that mainstreams protection interventions, but that also is conducted through a conflict-sensitive approach in line with the regional rollout of IOM’s conflict sensitivity analysis system (CSAS). IOM will also maintain its capacity to respond to sudden displacements caused by violent events, natural hazards or any other cause through its pre-position of relief items, and disaster preparedness actions.

Objective 2 - Driving solutions to displacement
Driving solutions to displacement

$101,314,550
Funding required
3,302,084
People Targeted
30
Entities Targeted
Primary target groups
Internally displaced person
Local population / community
Former combatant / fighter
International migrant

IOM Somalia’s programming will contribute to addressing the long-term impacts of the crisis and displacement in Somalia, by supporting local NGOs and state and federal governments to find durable solutions for IDPs and returnees through a holistic and integrated approach, aligned with the Secretary-General’s Action Agenda on Internal Displacement. IOM Somalia will work to support the prevention of internal displacement due to the effects of conflict and climate change through holistic interventions, in particular, community stabilization in strategic economic and productive areas. IOM will complement this work with support to land tenure security to reduce conflict over natural resources and therefore conflict-related displacement. To enable this outcome, IOM will work with and strengthen the capacities of  farmers, pastoralists, community leaders, and other affected groups to ensure a community-based and locally-owned approach to strengthening natural resource management mechanisms.

IOM will also facilitate access to solutions for displacement-affected communities in urban areas through a package of interventions supporting sustainable urban resilience. This programming will support displacement-affected communities to integrate, return or relocate in a safe, dignified and voluntary manner. IOM also aims to strengthen government institutions’ ability to rebuild social contracts with displacement-affected communities through district and nation-wide solutions planning. The rebuilding of social contracts will also include working with former combattants or affiliated individuals to violent and extremist organizations and support their reintegration into society. Central to urban resilience interventions will be neighbourhood-level service planning and support to tenure security. Trade, livelihoods and private sector development activities will look at the economic sustainability of the displacement response.  In areas affected by displacement, support for inclusive area-based coordination led by authorities will be incentivized. IOM will complement these interventions with data for solutions efforts to generate evidence-based policies and programmes, thereby supporting IDPs on solutions pathways. IOM’s work on data for solutions will also seek to mitigate a knowledge gap  stemming from a lack of up-to-date information on IDP caseloads.

Finally, IOM will support a set of interventions to institutionalize the work on solutions to displacement country-wide by supporting mechanisms for multi sectoral and multi-tiered government coordination and policy-making.

Facilitating pathways for regular migration
Facilitating pathways for regular migration

$13,411,600
Funding required
597,636
People Targeted
50
Entities Targeted
Primary target groups
Internal migrant
Refugee
International migrant

With the objective to enhance pathways for safe, orderly, and regular migration and maximize the developmental gains of migration, IOM will prioritize actions to promote alternatives to irregular migration for prospective crisis-affected migrants by enhancing the capacity of the FGS, communities, and stakeholders on all aspects of the migration journey, while promoting the wellbeing of crisis-affected migrants and mobile populations. IOM  will focus on diaspora engagement, labour migration and social inclusion, protection assistance, and border management.

In terms of policy support, IOM supports the drafting and implementation of the national migration policy, national diaspora policy, national transformation plan, and national stabilization strategy, among others, and ensures that those policies integrate the needs of crisis-affected migrants. IOM also supports the mainstreaming of migrants and displaced populations into sector strategies and plans. 

To achieve the mentioned objective, IOM delivers assistance through migrant reception centres (MRCs), strengthening border officials’ capacity with a rights-based approach and by providing equipment, leading work on legal identity, and enhancing the skills of Somalia health and education workforce by deploying Somali diaspora to deliver on the job training and skills and knowledge transfer to local   work force, such as through experts on breastfeeding, sexual and reproductive health (SRH), and hiring of female teachers.

Objective 1
Saving lives and protecting people on the move
$182,899,100
Funding required
[{"name":"Human suffering is alleviated","y":60},{"name":"Threats and vulnerabilities are reduced","y":20},{"name":"The quality of humanitarian assistance is enhanced","y":20}]
Objective 2
Driving solutions to displacement
$101,314,550
Funding required
[{"name":"Adverse drivers of displacement are minimized","y":20},{"name":"Displaced people are resilient and self-reliant","y":50},{"name":"Displaced people benefit from solutions","y":30}]
Objective 3
Facilitating pathways for regular migration
$13,411,600
Funding required
[{"name":"Channels for regular migration are sustainable and responsive","y":10},{"name":"Migration flows and cross-border mobility are well managed","y":15},{"name":"Migration policy and legal frameworks are aligned with international standards","y":45},{"name":"Migrants are protected from violence, exploitation and abuse","y":30}]

Percentage of funding required contributing to the long term outcomes expressed on IOM's Strategic Results Framework.

$3,148,650
Funding required
Related inter agency plans
H(N)RP MRP UNSDCF

IOM’s multisectoral programming aims to reduce risks for affected populations and enhance their resilience - ultimately fostering safe and inclusive communities. IOM’s programming strives to make Somali communities safer for returnees, lessen the chances of further displacement and increase the likelihood of returns to communities following forced displacement, with all programmes and teams committing to mainstreaming protection and abide by protection principles.

IOM will 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 IOM’s Approach to Protection and IOM’s Institutional Framework for Addressing GBV in Crises (GBViC), the Protection team working alongside the other programmatic teams, through trainings for example, 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.

$3,148,650
Funding required
[["Saving lives",68],["Solutions to displacement",20],["Pathways for regular migration",13]]
A woman living in an IDP site  explains her needs and concerns after the rains flooded her house. © IOM Somalia / Moustapha Negueye Ragueh 2024
A woman living in an IDP site explains her needs and concerns after the rains flooded her house. © IOM Somalia / Moustapha Negueye Ragueh 2024
Basic needs, including food and multi-purpose cash assistance     Priority
$11,960,000 Funding required
Related inter agency plans H(N)RP
Camp coordination and camp management     Priority
$24,200,000 Funding required
Related inter agency plans H(N)RP
Community stabilization and community-driven development     Priority
$25,000,000 Funding required
Related inter agency plans MRP UNSDCF
Data for action, insight and foresight     Priority
$10,180,000 Funding required
Related inter agency plans H(N)RP MRP
Disaster risk management    
$3,000,000 Funding required
Related inter agency plans H(N)RP
Livelihoods and economic recovery     Priority
$3,000,000 Funding required
Related inter agency plans UNSDCF
Shelter and settlements    
$28,520,000 Funding required
Related inter agency plans H(N)RP MRP UNSDCF
Water, sanitation and hygiene    
$88,086,000 Funding required
Related inter agency plans H(N)RP UNSDCF
Health    
$10,810,000 Funding required
Related inter agency plans H(N)RP MRP
Land and property     Priority
$3,200,000 Funding required
Related inter agency plans UNSDCF
Integrated policy support    
$334,000 Funding required
Related inter agency plans UNSDCF
Legal identity and consular services    
$1,300,000 Funding required
Related inter agency plans UNSDCF
Mental health and psychosocial support    
$5,500,000 Funding required
Related inter agency plans H(N)RP UNSDCF
Peacebuilding, violence and conflict reduction    
$17,375,000 Funding required
Related inter agency plans UNSDCF
Protection    
$25,500,000 Funding required
Related inter agency plans H(N)RP MRP UNSDCF
Transitional justice    
$7,800,000 Funding required
Related inter agency plans H(N)RP UNSDCF
Support services for response actors    
$19,019,600 Funding required
Related inter agency plans H(N)RP MRP
Humanitarian border management and search and rescue    
$4,900,000 Funding required
Related inter agency plans MRP
Regular pathways    
$3,700,000 Funding required
Related inter agency plans UNSDCF
Movement assistance    
$1,092,000 Funding required
Related inter agency plans MRP
Operational presence in

Somalia

49
International staff and affiliated work force
978
National staff and affiliated work force
7
IOM field office

 

The map used here is for illustration purposes only. Names and boundaries do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by IOM.

Figures are as of November 2024. For more details of IOM's operational capacity in country, please see the IOM Capacity section.