Organizations in Somalia act ahead of floods

Organizations in Somalia act ahead of floods

After a period of intense rainfall, several rivers in Somalia reached or exceeded their banks in recent weeks. To get ahead of the likely impacts, several organizations acted before the peak of the floods, implementing pre-agreed readiness and anticipatory activities to support communities at risk.

Among these were Welthungerhilfe (WHH) and the Centre for Peace and Democracy (CPD), which undertoolk readiness activities in the city of Jowhar after Phase 1 of the recently validated anticipatory action plan for floods was triggered. These actions included:

• conducting a baseline assessment of the situation
• developing communication plans and protocols for sharing early warnings
• convening the Jowhar Flood Anticipatory Action Committee and stakeholder meetings
• recruiting and training early-warning focal points
• registering and verifying participants
• printing and distributing posters on flood preparedness and early warnings
• running a radio campaign, which covered warnings about flood risks (e.g., acute watery diarrhoea, malaria, hygiene issues) and appropriate safety and protection measures
• beginning the procurement process for hygiene and shelter kits.

These activities were triggered based on a seasonal forecast from the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre. Financial support worth 200,000 British pounds (267,000 US dollars/239,000 euros) came from the Start Fund, which raised an anticipation alert for additional villages around Jowhar; the proposal by WHH and CPD was accepted.

All the organizations implementing anticipatory and readiness actions for floods are being coordinated by the Somalia Disaster Management Agency (SoDMA), in close cooperation with the National Technical Working Group for Anticipatory Action. For example, early warning messages are standardized by SoDMA and regular coordination meetings are being held at the local level.