Updated October 2026: this post was first published in November 2019 to announce the lessons learned report. We have expanded it with a summary drawn from the three case studies published with the report.
Durable solutions programming in Somalia grew quickly after 2017, in scale and in range. The European Union-funded RE-INTEG Programme was one of the first multi-year efforts focused on the sustainable (re)integration of internally displaced people (IDPs) and returnees, and it was followed by the Danwadaag Solutions Consortium and the Durable Solutions Programme, funded by DfID and Danida respectively. As learning partner to three NGO-led RE-INTEG consortia, we documented what they learned between 2017 and 2020.
The report covers the Jubaland Solutions Consortium (JSC), the Enhancing Integration of Displacement Affected Communities in Somalia consortium (EIDACS) and the Somaliland Durable Solutions Consortium (SDSC). It draws on a desk review and 20 interviews with implementing partners, the EU, government representatives and other durable solutions consortia, and looks at programme strategy, including use of the IASC indicators; consortium governance; engagement with government and displacement-affected communities; and learning and adaptation. Three case studies, one per consortium, show what this looked like on the ground.
Small business support in Baidoa and Afgoye
Under EIDACS, led by Concern Worldwide, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) helped 300 people start businesses in Baidoa and Afgoye, prioritising women, youth and the most vulnerable households. Participants completed a seven-day training in pricing, book-keeping, stock management and customer care, and those with viable plans received a $272 start-up grant and a kit. The case study describes its results as early: owners reported higher incomes that helped them support their families and keep children in school, and many shops sold goods such as soap, medicines and solar lanterns that complemented the consortium’s hygiene, health and education work. The limits were just as clear. Many customers had little cash, and the scale was small next to the need, with new IDPs still arriving. The case study concludes that host communities need support too, that community forums should lead selection, and that future programmes need stronger market analysis.
Protecting land and housing rights in Jubaland
In Kismayo, Afmadow, Dhobley, Belet Xawo and Baardhere, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and Juba Foundation, partners in the NRC-led JSC, worked on housing, land and property (HLP) rights at a time when the HLP Sub-cluster estimated that 313,964 people were evicted across Somalia in 2018. They monitored at-risk sites, mediated between landlords and residents, gave 600 people information on HLP procedures, trained 85 community leaders in collaborative dispute resolution, provided counselling or legal assistance in 167 cases, and helped 500 households obtain title deeds. Eight in ten eviction prevention efforts succeeded where the municipality was directly involved. The lesson the case study draws is that government leadership and locally rooted dispute resolution, alongside priority for women’s access to land, matter as much as legal reform.
Savings groups in Burao and Hargeisa
In Somaliland, World Vision, Concern Worldwide and TASCO, within the World Vision-led SDSC, formed 104 women’s self-help groups, each with 10 to 20 members drawn from host, returnee and IDP households. Groups set their own rules, opened bank accounts and, after about eight months, could apply for grants backed by market-based business plans. The context explains the demand: in the 2017 baseline, 68% of IDPs earned under $100 a month, against 23% of host community members, and fewer than 15% of members had any savings before joining. Members started grocery shops, butcheries and restaurants, and reported paying school fees and buying medicine. The case study also found better relations between IDPs, returnees and hosts, and recommends linking groups to banks and microfinance institutions.
What the three cases have in common
Each case ties a durable solution to something a household can hold onto: an income, a secure plot or a line of credit. Each also depended on local ownership, whether community forums choosing participants, municipalities mediating evictions or women’s groups setting their own rules. The evidence is early and programme-level, so it shows what these interventions achieved for participants rather than proving lasting (re)integration. That is the question longitudinal work, such as the aspirations surveys, was designed to answer.
Read the full lessons learned report and the three case studies: small businesses (EIDACS), housing, land and property rights (JSC) and savings and loans (SDSC).
References
ReDSS (2019). Establishing and Supporting Small Businesses for Displacement-Affected Communities (EIDACS case study). Lessons Learned from the EU RE-INTEG Durable Solutions Consortia Somalia. https://www.regionaldss.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ReDSS_Lesson_Learned_Case1-003.pdf
ReDSS (2019). Increasing Access to Savings and Loans for Displacement-Affected Communities (SDSC case study). https://www.regionaldss.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ReDSS_LL_Case3_Interactive.pdf
ReDSS (2019). Lessons Learned from the EU RE-INTEG Durable Solutions Consortia (2017-2020), e-library description. https://www.regionaldss.org/e-library/lessons-learnt-from-the-eu-re-integ-durable-solutions-consortia-2017-2020/
ReDSS (2019). Protecting Housing, Land and Property Rights for Displacement-Affected Communities (JSC case study). https://www.regionaldss.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ReDSS_LL_Case2_Interactive.pdf
