Aid in a City at War: The Case of Mogadishu, Somalia

Author(s)
Grunewald, F.
Publication language
English
Pages
21pp
Date published
01 Jan 2012
Type
Articles
Keywords
Conflict, violence & peace, Development & humanitarian aid, Urban
Countries
Somalia
Organisations
Groupe URD

Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, has been central to life, war, and peace in the country for almost two decades. Its urban characteristics, though, have been put to one side for the most part. In recent years, Mogadishu-related issues have been merged mostly into a global agenda for South and Central Somalia, resulting in the technical and coordination approaches employed in the city largely being reproductions of solutions utilised in refugee camps and rural areas. Unfortunately, urban problems require urban solutions. The aid system is just starting to discover how specific aid in cities at war should be, both from an organisational and a technical standpoint. The enhancement of aid practices in an urban setting implies, among other things, a more strategic approach to the specific spatial characteristics of the city, a more fine-tuned analysis of the technical requirements of the urban service delivery systems, and a better understanding of the role of urban institutions.