A New Deal for Somalia's Displaced?

DRC commissioned Samuel Hall for a study on the Somalia New Deal Compact and Displacement, under the research framework of the Regional Durable Solutions Secretariat (ReDSS), a consortium with an advisory board consisting of ACTED, CARE, DRC, IRC, Mercy Corps, NRC, OXFAM, Refugee Consortium Kenya (RCK) and WVI.

It was the objective of this report to support the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and its partners, primarily in the ReDSS take stock of potential opportunities for promoting durable solutions for displaced people in the Somalia New Deal Compact by firstly identifying displacement in Somalia’s development discourse and secondly, assessing stakeholder engagement in the Compact. The study clarifies what the Compact says about displaced communities in Somalia, how it will be implemented in this regard, and how INGOs can engage constructively with the New Deal Process in order to ensure that durable solutions for the 3 million displaced in and out of Somalia is turned into a policy and operational priority.

The findings detail the necessity to operationalise displacement as a development issue and outline the multisectoral approach that is required to obtain solutions. The New Deal Compact, with its five peace building and state building goals (PSGs), provides the foundation for such an approach. The study points to concrete possibilities of integrating displacement issues into the implementation of the New Deal Compact, in order to address the key development challenges of Somalia.

The study was conducted through a thorough desk review of New Deal related documents and literature on displacement, development and New Deal frameworks in Somalia and in other pilot countries of the New Deal. Interviews with key government and donor representatives were conducted both in Mogadishu and Nairobi.