Q&A: Gerard Waite on managing Somalia's displacement crisis

The humanitarian sector in Somalia is struggling to keep pace with an escalating food security crisis. Civilians fleeing famine-like conditions, including from areas controlled by militant group Al-Shabaab, face poor living conditions, disease outbreaks and uncertainty about their ability to return home. About 2 million people are now internally displaced within Somalia, including those who fled before and after the current drought, according to the International Organization for Migration’s Somalia Chief of Mission Gerard Waite. The IOM is following the movement of populations through its Displacement Tracking Matrix program, a system used to track and monitor human flight. The organization is also co-lead of the Camp Coordination and Camp Management cluster, together with the United Nations Refugee Agency. The group works with the Somali government to improve service delivery and living conditions in camps for internally displaced people. With just 16 percent of the funds IOM says it needs in 2017, the organization is prioritizing immediate needs such as improving shelter conditions. Waite spoke with Devex about his organization’s strategies for responding to the displacement crisis. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity. What is the current status of the displacement crisis in Somalia? The effort of trying to ensure that assistance is provided in rural areas, where the drought is hitting, is still a very pressing need. We cannot stop. We knew that in parallel to trying to prevent the famine and trying to prevent displacement, displacement would happen. It had to happen, because there are areas we cannot access, as they are under Al-Shabaab control. Logistically, this makes it very difficult to work in this environment. We always knew that, no matter how successful we were at trying to prevent the worst effects of famine and the worst effects of drought, there would be displacement. So that is what we really are dealing with now. The health conditions in the IDP camps are extremely alarming. There are very high levels of cholera and [acute watery diarrhea]. The camps are very poorly managed, with few services. Latrines, sanitation facilities are extremely basic. People are living in close proximity to each other. There is no separation between the household units, and these are the perfect conditions for generating alarming health conditions. We want to focus on bringing management and order and control to the camps and to ensure that there is adequate shelter, which at the moment, there clearly is not. It’s an enormous gap. It’s very pressing that we deal with the emerging health issues in the camp. As co-lead of the CCCM cluster, what will your strategies be for improving conditions in IDP camps? IOM’s CCCM activities seek to improve field response in displacement sites. [We aim to] provide coordination in sites and settlements on service provision, as well as site-level management, to ensure services are provided equitably and are accessible to all. [We are also] contributing to [build] more informed communities, through the construction of information centers and the setup of mobile outreach teams. [We offer] support to the state level government on site planning and physical site improvements, to improve the sites’ capacity to house IDPs safely and securely, as well as to ensure contingency planning is in place to cater toward changing displacement dynamics. How is IOM handling incoming arrivals to urban settings? Through its role in the CCCM cluster, IOM is initiating detailed site assessments in areas of major displacement to provide data on displacement, locations, population numbers and demographics in the sites, and the level of services available in those sites. This assessment will be rolled out by information management and CCCM partners of the cluster. As IOM develops its site level management, it will work to support this data collection. This data collection will form a baseline from which site management partners to identify new settlement or “new arrivals” and ensure that services are extended to any new settlements that may arise. It will also ensure that current sites and settlements have services that are appropriate for the numbers of displaced persons residing in them, inclusive of new arrivals. In addition, the construction of information centers, as well as mobile outreach groups, will ensure that new arrivals will have access to information on service provision upon their arrival, which will help them to access services more easily and quickly. Does IOM work with Somali refugees returning from Yemen? IOM Somalia has been assisting the return, reception and reintegration of Somali returnees fleeing the conflict in Yemen since April 2015. UNHCR defines all Somalis returning from Yemen as “refugees” based on their prima facie status in Yemen. Since then, 38,190 individuals including 32,473 Somalis had returned to Somalia. IOM is assisting the vulnerable caseload of Somali returnees through evacuation movements, health services and referrals, onward transportation, health and education grants, and income generating opportunities. Ninety-one percent of those who have been assisted with onward transport have returned to southern central regions, with Mogadishu being the most common destination, at 66 percent. Generally speaking, most of the returnees wish to stay in urban settings in Somalia and are therefore in need of reintegration assistance to re-establish their livelihoods. Compared to IDPs, Somali returnees from Yemen tend to be better skilled, having returned from Yemen with some experiences generating income through various means. How has IOM prioritized its response, since the needs in this crisis are greater than the resources? IOM is an active member of the humanitarian cluster system and leverages its strengths in humanitarian response, while coordinating with other humanitarian partners to ensure that multisectoral humanitarian gaps are addressed. In addition, IOM regularly consults with federal, regional and district-level authorities to gain a better understanding of the needs and gaps on the ground, ensuring complementarity and synergy. Considering the focus on averting famine, IOM has been responding to the crisis through emergency frontline programs, including WASH, health, shelter, non-food items, CCCM etc. At the same time, IOM has been supporting the local authorities and service providers with capacity building trainings and on-the-job skills training. In terms of your programming, how do you balance focusing on the immediate needs, while also addressing longer term solutions? In camp management, you have to prioritize the life-saving needs. This is the need for shelter, health, and management. At the same time, we are aware that the tools that are being developed now and the conditions we are trying to create in displacement should be targeted toward finding a solution for a reasonable amount of time for return. We don’t want to see a repeat of the conditions [that occurred] in the last drought, which have led to such protracted displacement. 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