UN-Habitat has received a total of 424,272 US dollars from the government of Japan to support Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), refugee returnees and host communities in urban areas of Kismayo in a new project just about to kick off in the Horn of Africa nation of Somalia.

The new project, “Sustainable, Safe and Durable Integration of IDPs, Refugee Returnees and Host Communities in Urban Areas in Kismayo, Somalia”, will support a sustainable, safe and durable reintegration of IDPs and refugee returnees. In addition, this project will aim to promote durable solutions targeting vulnerable groups including youth and women and enhance the absorption capacity of services for IDPs and refugee returnees in urban areas in Kismayo, during the period from March 2020 to March 2021.

The sustainable resolution to displacement is a long-term process requiring close cooperation between governments and a range of development and humanitarian actors, supporting the solutions aimed at addressing long term needs of IDPs and returnees. In Kismayo, Jubaland, displacement has been associated with several protection risks associated with high levels of impoverishment and vulnerability and high levels of forced evictions.

In order to address these central risks of protracted displacement, capacity building for key stakeholders and government institutions is critical to promoting sustainable spatial and social integration. Therefore, what is required is collective learning that brings together stakeholders and creates spaces for discussion around key issues including shaping multi-scale interventions, maintaining protection while enhancing development engagement and government-led processes and pursuing local integration and social cohesion in urban contexts.

Throughout this project, UN-Habitat will support the Jubaland Regional Administration in enhancing their capacities to manage returns and local integration effectively, and develop spatial plans focused on improving and scaling up the provision of access to education. Moreover, accessibility of IDPs and refugee returnees to employment, livelihoods and job creation opportunities, and enhancement of social cohesion within communities will be developed.