IN CONVERSATION: NEAR recently had the privilege of sitting down with leaders at Save Somali Women and Children (SSWC) to talk about their work and their experience as a Change Fund grantee during the current emergency in the Horn of Africa.
NEAR: Can you tell us more about your organisation and its work?
Shahida Suleiman, Project Manager: Save Somali Women and Children was one of the first organisations to stand up for women. It started during the war, to advocate for the rights of women and children, focusing on responding to gender based violence.
The organisation has evolved to also focus on issues like child protection, peace-building,
housing and land for internally displaced people.
We are also one of the founders of the Nexus platform, which responds to humanitarian needs, pools funds, and advocates for localisation.
NEAR: do you see much progress on localisation?
Ahmed Abdinasir Mohamed, Head of Programs: Yes, in the past four years we have seen a lot of progress in issues of quality and quantity of funding, partnerships, capacity and enhancing local voices.
We now have members on the Nexus platform, so instead of foreign experts we have locals leading. We are also in discussion to have local co-leads for the clusters.
An important piece of work is standardising a measurement tool for INGOs so that local actors can save time and resources, avoid duplication and harmonise the system.
We need long term strategic partnerships with common goals over years, not short-term contracts with a top to bottom approach. We also do influencing work to sell the Grand Bargain and Charter for Change agreement to national governments and local actors.
NEAR: can you tell us about the emergency response for which you received a Change Fund grant?
Shahida Suleiman, Project Manager: We are facing a serious drought, after three or four years of failed rainy seasons. Up to four million people have no water and are losing their livelihoods as they are mostly herders. Men take care of livestock and have to go looking for water, leaving behind already vulnerable women and children. This is forcing them to migrate to urban areas.
They have no shelter and their vulnerability and risk increases.
Every day there are more and more displaced people. The work we do is just a drop in the ocean compared to the huge needs.
NEAR: what was your experience of applying for a Change Fund grant?
Mohamed Hillow, Project Manager: The entire process was very different from traditional funding applications which can take months. The entire process was very quick, from the proposal submission to granting of funds was roughly three weeks, so it was really unique. We didn’t face any notable challenges and were able to quickly begin providing water and hygiene kits to vulnerable groups such as women and children and people with disabilities.
A woman carries a solar lantern, part of the emergency response kit provided to women and children in the SSWC project.
The major challenge we face now is that the needs are so great and they grow every day. We would advocate for the Change Fund to continue for at least a year, so that communities can recover from shocks. In future we would also advocate for cash transfers to be integrated with water and sanitation and non-food items. The displaced people still need shelter kits, latrines and a way to recover their disrupted livelihoods.
We would like NEAR to work with other donors who are active in the same emergency.
NEAR: what has been the most difficult part of this response?
Garad Saney Mohamed, Project Officer:
We are not just facing drought but also the constant influx of IDPs and the security situation at the same time. New camps are springing up all the time where no NGOs are operating or providing relief. We are seeing women with little children who have no shelter, especially now in the windy season. They have no toilets or water. They need sustainable water supplies like boreholes.
Some were attacked by armed men in their homes and mentally they are not settled – psychological first aid is very important for them.
You get emotional when you see their situation.