SERVICES: National Platforms
Somalia
Context: A joint community engagement initiative commenced in 2017 initiated by the OCHA Regional Office in an attempt to bring together existing CE initiatives together for common messaging at the HCT level was not ultimately successful. However, this has provided a learning opportunity and coordination actors in Somalia are exploring new ways to meet HCT commitments in AAP. A longstanding humanitarian radio program to amplify key messages and garner feedback and two-way communication on the response has been a highly useful service to both humanitarian actors and the humanitarian community. A Community Engagement working group has been proposed and may start soon.
Government links: The Somali Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs is involved in some community engagement activities. Their role is to share information to and from hard-to-reach communities.
Leads/Chairs/Co-Chairs: OCHA’s regional office is supporting in identifying a lead agency for this work.
National and international actors involved: Local and international NGOs and authorities.
Donors: N/A
Opportunities and challenges: The Nairobi workshop and global interest in community engagement and AAP has provided an opportunity to reinvigorate existing plans and activities, however it remains to be seen whether this will be matched by increased funding and clear commitments from overall response leaders.
High turnover within organisations in Somalia makes stable participation in working groups difficult (a problem not limited to community engagement).
An opportunity to work on response-wide indicators is being explored by Ground Truth Solutions.
