Garowe (Somali: Garoowe, Arabic: غاروي) is the administrative capital of the autonomous Puntland region in northeastern Somalia. UNHCR reported in 2012 that Garowe hosts around 10.000 internal displaced persons, but the latest official estimate is outdated. IDP settlements in Garowe are very protracted (some more than 15 years) and have fewer intentions to go back to their places of origin. The existing IDP settlements have expanded and grown since the last estimate due to droughts, the recent Yemeni crisis (with many Somali refugee-returnee families have come), rural-urban migration and other displacement options. Therefore, UNHCR is funding a registration exercise in all existing IDP settlements in Puntland led by the government and starting in Garowe. The Shelter Cluster partners are also going to implement the infrastructure mapping exercise which will provide good data on the level of basic services that the IDPs access now. It will also help to get an overview of the differences in-between the relocation sites Jilib and the other more informal settlement types and will hopefully provide interesting facts on community led initiatives in local integrated sites.
NRC and other shelter cluster partners have provided transitional shelter to IDP settlements in Garowe (Jawle and Ajuraan settlements). Two different typologies have been used in the past: the Corrugated Iron Sheet CGI and the Hybrid shelter (which has a solid foundation and lower wall). World Vision International WVI (through development funding) has also contributed to durable solutions and constructed 600 houses in Jilib settlement in Garowe (and another 600 houses in Burtinle). The land was donated through the government to the beneficiaries through permanent land titles. 50% of the beneficiaries of the WVI project were part of the host community. A strong component on integrated programming was used, based on an owner driven approach. Solar lighting, a school, health centre, community agricultural land (400*50 meters), waterpoints and latrines were incorporated according a well-defined settlement plan. The Government of Puntland has come forward with another very interesting plot of land for permanent land tenure looking at local integration projects for both IDP and host community families. The permanent land is located not too far from town and close to the other relocation site Jilib. The site has a dry river running through the plot and is surrounded by a nice hilly area with potential interesting sand/stone quarry sites. NRC, through its ICLA team has already come forward with a small budget to provide support in visibility, the land tenure documentation and the site planning. There is a strong potential to use this interesting site as a pilot and example project for local integration building on-top of the lessons learned of the permanent shelter project of WVI in Jilib.
The case of evictions in Jawle settlements: In 2010 the Puntland government relocated all the IDPs in the town to outside of the city. The rationale behind their relocation was to open new roads for the city and to reduce the congestion of the settlements. The government negotiated with private landlords at the time and found a plot of land with a land tenure of 5 years, which is now coming to an end. The landlords have already initiated to collect rent from the residents. Those who can’t pay the rent were evicted from the settlement, either through forced or voluntarily evictions. Some families even did not have the time to recover their materials. Government and shelters cluster have started to look for alternative land to prevent the eviction and to promote durable solutions. After a long search, the government has presented a permanent land donated by one of former regional governors; the land is now available and the government has called upon the shelter partners to start providing permanent shelters, site demarcation and planning. The government has also promised to conduct regular counter check on the evictions and will continue to advocate reducing evictions.
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