Lower Shabelle
It is an administrative region in Southern Somalia and lies to the West of Mogadishu. It is bordered to the South by Juba region, to the East by the Indian Ocean and Mogadishu, Middle Shabelle region to the North and Bay region to the West. The region consists of seven districts: - Marca (the regional capital), Afgooye, Barawe, Kunturwarey, Qoryooley, Sablaale and Wenlawayn.
It hosts approximately 103,000 IDPs (UNHCR, September 2014) of which 80 percent are dwelling in the rural areas, making it the third region in Somalia with the highest concentration of IDPs after Banadir and Galgaduud. Marca, the regional capital of Lower Shabelle is about 90km South of Mogadishu. It is regarded as the most populous town in the Lower Shabelle region.
The Lower Shabelle region is prone to floods due to the Shabelle River that breaks its banks during the rainy seasons. People living in and around the riverine towns are always in need of Shelter/NFIs during this period. Marca and its surrounding areas has also been the object of a targeted SNF/AMISOM offensive since March 2014. The area recently experienced inter-clan conflicts over resources. It is a region largely ignored by the humanitarian community over the past years due to access difficulties in the area. However, with the removal of Al-Shabaab from key areas in the region, access is becoming increasingly possible. Community elders have estimated that 1,500 out of the 2,000 households in the Kurtunwaarey town are in need of Shelter and NFIs especially plastic sheets for protection during the rainy period.
In December 2014, the Shelter cluster carried out an infrastructure mapping exercise in Marca with an aim to map out the basic services that internally displaced people can access in their respective settlements. Six IDP settlements were mapped out during the exercise i.e. Ala amin, Badbado, Beder, Buulo-baylow, Keef and Shirkole.
Lower Shabelle region maps can be found in the Online Maps Marka.
For Lower Shabelle's meeting minutes and other documents, kindly visit the Banadir page.
Overview