Danwadaag: Working together towards durable solutions to displacement in Somalia

The Danwadaag* Consortium aims to enhance progress towards durable solutions and (re)integration for targeted displacement affected communities (DAC) in South West State, BRA and Jubaland. It focuses on developing an enabling environment for long-term solutions to displacement through capacity building of the government, the delivery of integrated sustainable basic services, land tenure security and housing, land and property (HLP) and targeted livelihoods programming for the most vulnerable. Danwadaag is an area-based adaptive programme which is government-led and community driven. The consortium is evidence-based and continues to invest in innovative monitoring and evaluation methods to ensure its programming is effective and responsive to the specific needs and priorities of DACs.
Danwadaag is a three-and-a-half year programme running until March 2022, and is supported by UK Aid through the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). To download a short overview of the programme, please click here.

What is a durable solution?

A durable solution is achieved when displaced people no longer have specific assistance and protection needs that are linked to their displacement and can enjoy their human rights without discrimination on account of their displacement. It can be achieved through three processes – return, local integration or resettlement (Inter-Agency Standing Committee’s (IASC) framework) with the end goal of all three being (re)integration. Danwadaag aims to achieve local (re)integration, where IDPs and returnees are (re)integrated in the place where they settled, no longer have specific needs related to their displacement and are able to enjoy their rights as citizen without discrimination on account of their displacement. For more information, watch this video.

Key design elements of the programme

• Government-led: Recognising governments primary responsibility for the leadership of durable solutions processes, Danwadaag supports local and federal ministries through technical capacity injections. Specifically, these secondments seek to embed and transfer key durable solutions skills within government institutions for longer term, government led processes.
• Community-driven and inclusive: Danwadaag seeks to ensure community needs inform programming through the implementation of Community Action Plans (CAPs), a method which brings together DACs for improved social cohesion and community-led decision making. “I wish we were able to have such occasions (Baidoa CAP review consultations) more frequently, because it is bringing local leaders and constituents on the same table to discuss important issues together” Hon. Ahmed Madobe Nunow, SWS Minister of Planning
• Area-based: Danwadaag focuses on specific geographic areas in urban and peri-urban locations to ensure integrated programming and implementation based on contextualised evidence.

How to measure (re)integration

Danwadaag has progressed the understanding and evidence-base around this critical issue by investing in a Local (Re) Integration Assessment (LORA) tool. The LORA is a comprehensive data collection tool based on the Inter-agency Standing Committee (IASC) and ReDSS Solutions framework that monitors key aspects of physical, material and legal safety of targeted households annually. The LORA enables evidence generation by the programme to ensure the needs and priorities of DACs are considered in (re)integration efforts at household, community and area level. The tool examines to which extent key variables such as access to land tenure security, employment, access to basic services or perceived integration levels contribute to more self-reliance and longer-term solutions to displacement.

*’Danwadaag’ is a Somali word which means ‘common purpose’.