Facilitating Durable Solutions in Somalia. Experiences from Midnimo-I and the Application of Human Security

Across Somalia, a vicious combination of conflict and natural disaster such as draught and flooding have caused 2.6 million persons to leave their home in recent years. Nearly half, 1 million, are displaced in central and southern Somalia, namely in Jubaland, South-West and Hirshabelle.

With the vast majority of Internally Displaced Persons residing and intending to remain in urban areas, the efforts to provide Durable Solutions must be ramped up.

The Midnimo (Unity) project contributed to this effort by developing Durable Solutions for displacement-affected communities. Funded and supported by the United Nations Trust for Fund Human Security and the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund, UN-Habitat and the International Organization for Migration jointly implemented a comprehensive set of activities and pilot projects. Grounded in the Human Security approach, Midnimo-I worked closely with affected populations in order to empowered communities and local governments to drive their own, context-specific Durable Solutions.

This handbook tries to distil tools and lessons from the many diverse experiences, successes and areas for improvement of other and upcoming Durable Solutions projects. Through Human Stories, it offers a platform for programme participants and beneficiaries to share their personal experiences. Intended as a work in progress, the handbook sheds light on what effectively are steps towards more streamlined Durable Solutions programming. By placing Human Security at the heart of the United Nations’ strategy for Durable Solutions, it considers human mobility as a key factor of human insecurity. It unpacks how Human Security can serve as a valuable lodestar to increase the impact of operational work, strengthening the humanitarian development and peace building nexus. 

Not at last, the handbook aims to provide a wide range of stakeholders, with UN agencies at the forefront, with practical ideas to integrate the Human Security approach when devising strategies and advocating for Durable Solutions.