Profiling Report Launch: Urban Displacement in Mogadishu and Hargeisa

On 6th June 2016, two profiling reports were launched in Geneva in an event organised by the Global Protection Cluster and JIPS. Both result from urban profiling exercises in Mogadishu and Hargeisa, demonstrate the value of collaborative processes and have helped to inform the new IDP Solutions Initiative in Somalia and national development planning.

The Mogadishu report was originally launched on May 15th in Somalia, jointly by

• The Government’s Disaster Management Agency (DMA),
• The Banadir Regional Administration (BRA),
• The UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator, Peter de Clercq, and
• The former UN Representative on the human rights of IDPs now Special Adviser to the IDP Solutions Initiative, Prof. Walter Kaelin.

Undertaken by the DMA, BRA and members of the Protection Cluster’s profiling working group (UNHCR, DRC, IOM, OCHA, NRC, IRC, SSWC, ORDO, HINNA, ELMAN, Mercy Corps, DBG, Save the Children, REACH and the Shelter Cluster) the process was supported by JIPS from beginning to end.

The Hargeisa exercise, was originally launched in country in January 2016, was similarly undertaken by a Profiling Taskforce set up by the Protection Cluster in collaboration with counterparts from the Government.

The Geneva launch integrated findings and lessons learnt from both exercises.

• In Hargeisa, while the data demonstrated issues of urban poverty plaguing both cities, the displaced populations were difficult to distinguish from their non-displaced counterparts living in the same settlements and areas of town (returning refugees, refugees and asylum seekers, economic migrants, and host communities).
• In Mogadishu, by contrast, the IDPs faced severe displacement-related vulnerabilities in comparison to other groups.

Both profiling exercises demonstrated significant achievements in collaborative data collection processes, as ownership from national/local governments has already proven beneficial to incorporating the displaced into national/urban development plans. As stated during the launch, “Data is very important; data with a purpose is even better”. The profiling was able to offer data that went beyond mere population estimates to identify the needs and vulnerabilities of different groups living in informal settlements throughout Mogadishu and Hargeisa.