The 16th session of the sixth parliamentary sitting was held at the Parliament headquarters in Mogadishu on Saturday and was chaired by Speaker Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur (Madobe).

The IDPs Bill, first introduced in May 2023, had faced repeated delays due to political instability and ongoing security challenges that have disrupted legislative proceedings under President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s administration.

After more than a year of inaction, MP Mukhtar Mohamed and several colleagues reintroduced the motion last week, urging swift parliamentary action.

“I urge the MPs once again to consider fast-tracking this agenda, which is of great importance,” MP Mukhtar told the House, highlighting the looming mid-term parliamentary recess.

During Saturday’s session, MP Abdulqadir Barako, a member of the Human Rights Committee, presented the third reading of the IDPs Bill, which incorporated feedback and debates from earlier sessions. The bill was passed with overwhelming support: 136 MPs voted in favor, 4 opposed, and none abstained.

Parliament also approved the Bill on Civil Registration and Civil Status Statistics, with 136 MPs voting in favor, one against, and five abstaining.

A complex mix of conflict, insecurity, natural disasters, and weak governance structures has resulted in an influx of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Somalia.

As of May 2024, Somalia hosts approximately 3.86 million IDPs, according to UNHCR.

The majority of these IDPs reside in over 2,000 informal settlements across the country, often lacking adequate shelter, sanitation, and access to essential services.

Speaker Sheikh Adan Madobe confirmed the passage of both bills, calling it a significant step toward addressing humanitarian needs and strengthening civil administration.

“Members of the House of the People of the Federal Parliament of Somalia today approved Bills on IDPs and Civil Registration and Status,” he said.

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Beledweyne (KAAB TV) – The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Hirshabelle State Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management have called for urgent assistance to help communities affected by flooding in the town of Belet Weyne in Hirsahbelle State, Somalia.

At least 22 people have died in the floods.  The floods, which began in early May, are estimated to have affected over 200,000 people and around 79% of the town has flooded, according to FAO’s Somalia Water and Land Information Management (SWALIM) unit.

Heavy rainfall earlier in the week sent water gushing into homes in Beledweyne town in Hiran region, submerging roads and buildings as residents grabbed their belongings and waded through flooded streets in search of refuge.

“We’re witnessing the Shabelle river’s worst flooding event in the last thirty years, the situation for many displaced families is very precarious right now,” said Ezana Kassa, FAO’s Head of Programme in Somalia.

According to the United Nations Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, over 200,000 people have been displaced from their homes and need immediate food, water, shelter, and other lifesaving assistance. “Livelihoods have been destroyed and the risk of water borne diseases are on the rise,” said Kassa. It’s an extra blow for local farmers who say this season’s harvest was looking more promising than during the last three years of drought.

“We are calling on the international community to urgently provide assistance to the people of Belet Weyne and flood affected regions,” said Minister Asha Khalif Mohamed, of the Hirshabelle State Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, the government agency leading the flood response. She said that the government had already provided emergency food and supplies to affected communities, as well as leading the flood response coordination on the ground. “We need to be ready to bring in what people need as soon as flood waters recede, prevent disease outbreaks and also help people get back on their feet through livelihood interventions,” she said.

FAO has a recent history of flood interventions in Belet Weyne and surrounding areas. Early reports show that flood works implemented by FAO in 2022 with the support of United Kingdom, the World Bank and the Italian Government kept flood levels at bay for weeks longer than in previous years. However, the worst flooding since at least 1991 saw flood waters overflow the high-water mark. Other interventions continue to hold back flood waters, preventing an even greater disaster.

These historic floods are the latest in a series of natural disasters to hit Somalia in recent years, an increasing trend caused in part by global climate change.

In 2021-22, the country was hit by a devastating drought that left the country teetering on the edge of famine and 6.6 million people acutely food insecure in its wake. It’s also a reminder of the vulnerability of Somalia to climate change.

The country is already one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the effects of climate change, and the most reliable scientific modelling shows that climate related shocks will only increase in frequency into the future.

In addition to immediate support for affected populations, FAO is calling for scaled up investments in longer term solutions including more robust flood management initiatives to mitigate the impact of climate shocks on vulnerable communities’ cope and safeguard their food security into the future.

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Heavy rainfall earlier in the week sent water gushing into homes in Beledweyne town in Hiran region, submerging roads and buildings as residents grabbed their belongings and waded through flooded streets in search of refuge.

“Initial estimates indicate that the flash and riverine floods across Somalia have affected at least 460,470 people, of whom nearly 219,000 have been displaced from their homes mainly in flood-prone areas, and 22 killed,” the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

The floods “have left a trail of destruction… inundating homes and farmland, washing away livestock, temporarily closing schools and health facilities, and damaging roads,” the agency said in a situation report.

The disaster comes on the heels of a record drought that has left millions of Somalis on the brink of famine, with the troubled nation also battling an Islamist insurgency for decades.

Residents told AFP earlier that the floods have become a familiar ordeal to many of them, with experts saying that extreme weather events are happening with increased frequency and intensity due to climate change.

Fartun Ali — not her real name — said it was her fifth time fleeing flash flooding in Beledweyne.

“Whenever the river breaks the banks, we flee,” the 35-year-old mother of eight told AFP.

East and central Africa often suffers from extreme weather during the rainy seasons.

Earlier this month, 135 people were killed and more than 9,000 left homeless after heavy rains lashed Rwanda, triggering floods and landslides in several parts of the hilly nation.

More than 400 people lost their lives due to torrential downpours, floods and landslides last week in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

In May 2020, at least 65 people died in Rwanda as heavy rains pounded the region, while at least 194 deaths were reported in Kenya.

At the end of 2019, at least 265 people died and tens of thousands were displaced during two months of relentless rainfall in several countries in East Africa.

The extreme downpours affected close to two million people and washed away tens of thousands of livestock in Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

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The flooding began on Thursday, as heavy rains caused rivers to overflow their banks, sending water and mud rushing into villages, washing away homes and ravaging farmland.

Nearly 3,000 families were left homeless, and 1,200 homes were razed, according to a U.N. agency.

People from the region had traveled to the area where the floods took place to sell their agricultural products at a market, making it harder to count the total number of the missing, rescuers said.

The floods hit the Kalehe Territory in South Kivu, an area that had welcomed thousands of displaced people from the troubled province of Nord-Kivu.

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