Visiting Displacement Camps in Somalia

UNICEF Regional Director visits displacement camps in Somalia.

Visiting Displacement Camps in Somalia Kun Li: Bossaso lies in the northern coast of Somalia. It’s an economic hub of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland and has the country’s busiest port. About 40,000 internally displaced persons or IDPs live in 27 camps like this, against the intense heat at hutches made from cardboards and rags. Poor living conditions do little to discourage the arrival of the new IDPs. Fleeing from the conflict in central and southern parts of Somalia, they find relative peace and occasional job opportunities in Bossaso. Less than two years ago, only one third of the town’s population had safe drinking water. With the construction of this new water storage tank and a pipeline, 65% of the population can now access to the most basic, and yet life-saving commodity. During his visit to Bossaso, Regional Director Elhadj As Sy, together with the officials of Puntland, inaugurated this new water project. It was constructed with UNICEF and the European Union support. Elhadj As Sy: This is a huge achievement particularly given the difficulty of the context where we work here. It has the powerful demonstration effect that it is possible to achieve something if the will is there. Kun Li: With the current school enrolment of less than 40%, most children in Puntland especially girls are at risk of growing up illiterate. UNICEF supports 450 primary schools and many non-formal and Quranic schools across the region to make sure that children can get a basic education, and they are also taught the right skills to make a meaningful contribution later in life. This clinic located in the IDP camp called “100 Bush” runs a therapeutic feeding program for malnourished children. Before such intervention, malnutrition rate was nearly 30% for children in Bossaso’s camps. By the end of 2009, it had gone down to 18%, largely due to the distribution of ready-to-use food and other health, and water, sanitation related efforts. Elhadj As Sy: The multi dimensional nature of our work should be to influence policies create and enabling environment together with the leadership while at the same time providing the basic services for the most vulnerable as is often the case, women and children. Kun Li: In Bossaso, Somalia, this is Kun Li reporting for UNICEF television, Unite for Children.