Durable Solutions Unit

About DSU

Finding sustainable solutions for the longstanding challenge of displacement and ending exclusion of affected persons is of critical importance to Somalia’s peace and development trajectory. As a result, achieving sustainable durable solutions for displacement affected persons is a key priority for the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) as is laid out in the Somalia’s National Development Plan 2020 – 2024 (NDP 9) and the National Durable Solutions Strategy 2020 – 2024.

In order to provide overall coordination with all key stakeholders and actors at both National and International level on durable solutions and provide a road map for finding solutions to Somalia’s protracted displacement, the Federal Government of Somalia established the Durable Solutions Unit (DSU) at the Ministry of Planning, Investments and Economic Development (MOPIED) in November 2018 becoming fully operational in February 2019.

The DSU is mandated to:

1

Strengthen government leadership in addressing displacements.
2

Facilitating durable solutions through planning, coordinating across sectors, delivering, and monitoring and oversight on durable solutions interventions implemented in the country.
3

Ensure that maximum optimization in durable solutions initiatives is attained through a “whole of government approach” with collective outcomes.
4

Ensure an enabling environment and central decision making at Federal and Regional level through consultations with key stakeholders and actors.
5

Enhance strategic prioritization of key durable solutions interventions in the National Development Plan, Social Development Pillar, program interventions and other relevant frameworks.
6

Advocate and fund raise for durable solutions initiatives.

Over the years the DSU has been a key player in changing the landscape for durable solutions in Somalia and providing leadership, coordination, and strategic guidance towards a “whole of government” and “whole of society” approach towards addressing Somalia’s protracted displacement through an inclusive development approach. Tremendous progress has been through the inclusion of the durable solutions agenda in national and local development plans and development investments leading prioritization of the work on displacement as one of the immediate strategic priorties for the Government’s commitment to poverty reduction.

The MoPIED Durable Solutions Unit (DSU) leads and coordinates durable solutions with government institutions, international actors such as United Nations (UN), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Donors and Private Sector.

Durable Solutions Secretariate

Recognising that finding durable solutions to forced displacement is a cross cutting issue and requires a broad institutional engagement and a whole-of-government approach, the Durable Solutions Unit established the Durable Solutions Secretariat (DSS). This government-led body which brings together 16 government institutions aims to provide technical expertise and high-level strategic guidance and oversight to ensure that durable solutions initiatives are prioritised and implemented in Somalia across levels and are in line with the National Development Plan, the National Durable Solutions Strategy and other relevant government frameworks and policies.

The Secretariat was launched on 28^th October 2019 by H.E Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Mohamed Guled at an event facilitated by H.E Minister Gamal Mohamed Hassan and attended by Federal Government Ministries, IGAD, Donors, UN, and INGOs. The DSS is hosted, coordinated and chaired by the DSU at the Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development.

The following key government institutions are current members of the DSS:

The National Durable Solutions Strategy 2020 – 2024

The National Durable Solutions Strategy 2020 – 2024 (NDSS) was developed under the overall leadership of the Durable Solutions Unit (DSU) at the Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development (MoPIED) with contributions of the National Durable Solutions Secretariat and wide-range collaboration of the international and national actors and inclusion and participation of the displacement affected communities.

The NDSS was endorsed on 18th February 2021 by the cabinet of Federal Government of Somalia approved and was subsequently launched on 23^rd March 2021. The NDSS, the first of its kind in the country, outlines the strategic visions and goals we have identified to help the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) fulfil its mission to better serve vulnerable members of the society and will serve as a cornerstone for the FGS’s endeavours to address displacement in Somalia in a sustainable manner through a development approach in line with the National Development Plan 2020 – 2024 (NDP9) the country’s national poverty reduction strategy.

The NDSS is an operational roadmap that sets out a collective vision, strategic objectives and principles to guide the implementation of durable solutions programming and policies in Somalia over a 5 – year time frame. The NDSS is expected to pave the way for the progressive realization of an enabling environment in which displacement affected communities (DACs) including Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), refugees, asylum seekers, refugee returnees and vulnerable host communities can gradually access durable solutions in an equitable and non-discriminatory manner. The strategy’s longer-term intent is to reduce and mitigate the adverse impacts of displacement created by recurrent natural disasters and related links with conflicts and governance.

The National Durable Solutions Strategy (NDSS) will support the government guarantee a fiscal and political space for the durable solutions agenda within a development approach that holistically addresses the multi-dimensional challenges of displacement poverty, inequality and vulnerability in the country, develop a clear and realistic vision for durable solutions, guide implementation, and link durable solutions with other policy actions to achieve comprehensive outcomes.

The National Strategy has the following five strategic objectives

To increase the resilience of displacement affected communities by ensuring equitable access to public services, housing with security of tenure, and social safety nets through a rights and needs based approach.
To increase accountability of authorities towards displacement affected communities by ensuring participation in peace and state building processes through guaranteeing their safe and security and access to legal identity.
To increase access to sustainable livelihoods and employment opportunities by displacement affected communities by creating conditions conducive to the achievement of their self-reliance.
To increase access to justice and rule of law by displacement affected communities by strengthening formal and informal justice structures.
To Invest in early and long-term solutions to prevent displacement caused by drought and floods.

The aim of the National Durable Solutions Strategy for Somalia is to bring change to the lives of displacement affected communities so they can live in dignity, participate in public affairs as full citizens, have access to basic services, sustainable livelihoods, employment, and justice to enable them to become self-sufficient and re-join mainstream society.