Housing project for Somali IDPs gets boost

02 Jun 2005

Mogadishu, Somalia (PANA) - The municipality of Garowe in Somalia's self-proclaimed autonomous region of Puntland has approved the UN-HABITAT proposal on resettlement sites to construct low-cost housing for internally displaced persons (IDPs), according to Garowe mayor Mohamud Omar.

Both parties, he said, on Wednesday formed a beneficiaries committee thatwould coordinate the development and upgrading of infrastructures ranging from new homes, markets, and water supplies involving other UN agencies like UNHCR, UNDP and other non-governmental bodies.

The project would be located in the northwestern region and funded partly through a grant of $1.8 million the Japanese government provided in March this year.

Filiep Decorte, UN-HABITAT program manager for urban planning and capacity building, told PANA the Japanese donation was intended to improve the living condition and economic opportunities of the IDPs and returnees who urgently require support.

The money is also part of Japan's emergency grant for the "Consolidation of Peace in Africa", one of the three pillars of the Asian nation's cooperation with Africa as recommended by the Tokyo International Conference on Africa Development (TICAD).

"A total of 680 families in Garowe and Hargeysa towns will be the direct beneficiaries of the low-cost housing units. They include an estimated 2,700 children and 680 women. These households would also benefit from awareness raising and training in hygiene, sanitation and rainwater harvesting, among others," Decorte said.

He also disclosed that authorities in northwestern Somalia, where a similar project is earmarked, have agreed to allocate sites for the construction of the low-cost housing units.

Decorte said implementation of the program is planned for three years, with the first, current phase costing about 6.15 million euros.

The European Union has agreed to donate 5 million euros of the total budget, with the balance expected to come from UNDP and UN-HABITAT, the lead agency.

A protracted civil conflict spanning nearly 15 years has left hundreds of thousands of Somalis internally and externally displaced without adequate shelter and access to safe drinking water, sanitation and job opportunities.