The overall objective of the project is to improve the living conditions and
livelihood opportunities of displaced communities in Hargeisa through the
provision of durable shelter with secure land tenure, settlement
infrastructure, basic services, and skills training.
A long-term, unresolved issue for the politically stabilized and
steadily growing city of Hargeisa
is the large number of IDP families residing on former government land and in
public buildings. The local government has been trying to address this problem
by identifying land for resettlement, but lacks the financial and technical
capacity to address the pressing housing situation and to find lasting
solutions. UN-HABITAT, with previous funding from the Government of Japan, has
assisted the municipality by providing low-cost housing, improved services, skills
training and livelihood opportunities to returnees and IDPs at the Ayaha-II
settlement area, on the southern fringe of Hargeisa.
The interventions carried out under this project respond to the
continuous need to improve living standards and provide durable solutions for
reintegration and resettlement of displaced communities in Hargeisa. In
particular, the project aims to reduce tensions between IDPs and host
communities and incorporates issues of protection, and spatial and
socio-economic integration through permanent resettlement and improvement of
livelihood opportunities for the most vulnerable groups (women and youth).
In particular, the proposed project will target the resettlement and
provision of durable shelter for 350 returnee IDP families in Hargeisa
originating from congested urban IDP settlements like the “State House Area”, a
large piece of former government land in the central part of the city, which is
occupied by an estimated number of 3,000 people. The location of the project activities
will be the new AYAHA-III settlement site (neighbouring the Ayaha-II area,
which was the target of previous UN-HABITAT shelter activities). The site was
formally approved for permanent re-settlement of IDPs by the Municipality already
in 2010 and the re-settlement process has already begun in late 2011. The
beneficiary selection for permanent shelter under this project will undergo a
locally driven process to assure a fair selection.
