STORY: At local government gathering, UN expert highlights

need for solutions to challenges from Somalia’s rapid

urbanisation
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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NATURAL SOUND
DATELINE: 21/OCTOBER/2018, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

SHOT LIST:

1. Wide shot, UN officials, mayors and representatives of municipalities attend a

roundtable on urban displacement
2. Med shot, George Conway, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Country Director for Somalia speaking at the meeting
3. Close up shot, George Conway, the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) Country Director for Somalia speaking at the meeting
4. Med shot, the Mayor of Mogadishu, Abdirahman Osman speaking at the meeting
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) George Conway, United Nations Development Programme
Country Director for Somalia
“Today’s event was to bring together mayors and municipalities across the country.
We were privileged to have his excellency the governor of Benadiir Region and the
Mayor of Mogadishu together with the Mayor of Baidoa, the Mayor of Bosasso and
others from across the country to come and share lessons and experiences on how it
is that we can help them to find solutions to the displacement crisis.”

6. Wide shot, participants at the meeting

7. Med shot, a participant speaking at the meeting
8. Med shot, participants listening
9. Wide shot, participants listening
10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Professor Walter Kaelin, Special Advisor to the United
Nations Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Resident and
Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Somalia
“This is a very important event. It brings together mayors from some of the most
affected municipalities in the country in terms of large numbers of Internally
Displaced Persons (IDPs) coming to Bosasso, to Mogadishu
to Baidoa. It’s a great opportunity to learn from each other, to see what has been
achieved and also to identify challenges.”

11. Med shot, participants listening

12.SOUNDBITE: (English) Professor Walter Kaelin, Special Advisor to the United
Nations Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Resident and
Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Somalia
“2.6 million Somalis are internally displaced. That’s a (big) number in absolute terms
but also in terms of percentage of the overall population. This is a huge
humanitarian challenge but its also affecting the development of this country and
ultimately the security, the state-building. And unless we find durable solutions for
these people, I think it will be very difficult for Somalia to advance.”

13. Med shot, George Conway, the UNDP Country Director for Somalia speaking at
the meeting
14. SOUNDBITE: (English) George Conway, United Nations Development
Programme Country Director for Somalia
“This isn’t simply a humanitarian issue, it is really about looking at these waves of
displacements in the longer term as part of the trend of urbanization that the
country has been experiencing for many years now. And this trend will continue, the
climate change trajectory of Somalia is such that we’ll see continued spikes in rural-
to-urban migration and the cities have to be prepared and they have to be ready to
expand housing opportunities, expand access to basic services and importantly to
ensure livelihoods and employment opportunities for these new people that are
joining cities.”

15. Wide shot, participants attending the meeting

STORY

At local government gathering, UN expert highlights need for solutions to

challenges from Somalia’s rapid urbanisation

Mogadishu, 21 October 2018 – At a gathering with Somali local government officials,

a senior United Nations expert highlighted the need for long-lasting and local
solutions to the challenges brought about by Somalia’s rapid urbanisation.

The Horn of Africa country is among the fastest urbanising countries in the world,
with the return of refugees and internal displacement key drivers of the movement
of people from rural to urban areas.

“2.6 million Somalis are internally displaced – that’s an amazing number in absolute
terms but also in terms of the overall population. This is a huge humanitarian
challenge but it’s also affecting the development of the country and ultimately the
security, the state-building,” said Walter Kaelin, a UN Special Advisor on Internal
Displacement.

“And unless we find durable solutions for these people I think it will be very difficult
for Somalia to advance,” he added.

The UN expert was speaking on the sidelines of the ‘Exchange on Local Solutions to
Urban Displacement,’ a gathering of local government officials, civil society
representatives and UN experts to discuss the role of local authorities in finding
solutions to the country’s urbanisation.

Held in the capital, Mogadishu, those attending included that city’s mayor, as well as
those of regional centres such as Baidoa and Bosssaso.

In Somalia, more than a million men, women and children live in protracted
displacement in the wake of the country’s conflict, and hundreds of thousands are
believed to have been displaced due to drought.

The country’s large population movement has posed new challenges to Somali
society, not only to the landscape and social fabric of many towns and cities, but also
by putting increased pressure on host communities that themselves struggle with
limited available resources.

Areas of concern include the delivery of basic services, the creation of livelihood
opportunities, the securing of housing, land and basic property rights and providing
protection and access to justice for displaced people.

“It really is about looking at these waves of displacement in the longer-term as part
of a trend of urbanization that the country has been experiencing for many years
now, and this trend will continue,” said the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP)
Country Director for Somalia, George Conway, on the meeting’s sidelines.

“The climate change trajectory of Somalia is such,” he continued, “that we’ll see
continued spikes in rural-to-urban migration and the cities have to be prepared and
be ready to expand housing opportunities, expand access to basic services and
importantly, ensure livelihoods and employment opportunities for these new people
that are joining cities.”

To address the longstanding problems of displacement and the issues surrounding it,
the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS), the UN and various partners have been
involved in the Durable Solutions Initiative, which was launched in 2015. Led by the
FGS, the Initiative is a collective framework aligned to the country’s National
Development Plan and aims to collectively guide approaches and programming on
long-lasting solutions.

An expert on the issue of displacement, Mr. Kaelin serves as an advisor on internally

displaced persons to the UN Resident Coordinator for Somalia, the Secretary-
General’s Deputy Special Representative for the country, Peter de Clercq.