Somaliland locates in drought prone areas, there are frequent long dry seasons, droughts are recurrent, there are no year perennial rivers, the only available are dry season rivers which depend on rainfall which dries up during the last months of the dry season, the nomadic people in Somaliland suffer from the water scarcity, which causes drastic damage in rural and urban areas l. Thus, water is naturally scarce. But, during the two short rainy seasons of Gu and Dayr (Spring and Autumn respectively & 3 months apiece), torrential average annual rainfall of about 350mm (though sporadic) and occasionally flood out tremendous amounts of water to the sea or to waste through evaporation and/or infiltration.

But, to alleviate water shortages, under the guidance of Bilan Awdal Organization NGO, for the last two decades, different institutions, the government, local NGO’s, INGO’s and others did and continue to do the commendable efforts by rehabilitation/construction of water resources to exploit surface and groundwater and thus increase the water availability, bringing once too scarce water within reach to a large sector of Somaliland Water sector to support the different  water uses including domestic, livestock, agriculture and other important uses like industries..

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Despite that, to date, access to safe and adequate water to most remains elusive. And one major reason is because little or no effort was made to improve Water Quality although safe and sanitary water is known to have a profound impact on public health.

It is estimated that over 78% of the rural populations do not have access to safe drinking water (WHO/UNICEF) and most obtain their water and that of their livestock from open sources:

springs, Berkads (man-made rectangular water catchment), shallow wells, dams, seasonal ponds most of which usually dry up in winter or during dry seasons or are often contaminated with livestock/human wastes that inundate the environment (wastes both dry and liquid are discharged to environment untreated) propagating water-borne diseases.

On the other hand, many factors that include civil strife and persistent droughts wiped out the country’s once huge livestock and sadly today, poverty prevails. Unfortunately, this had caused a huge human mass migration to towns where, however, public services are already in short supply or non-existent. And so, new IDP’s live in appalling conditions with no water and sanitation and live on humanitarian food handouts. We feel that this is one area where our Ministry needs immediate assistance so that the Ministry can provide them water and sanitation.

Additionally, another very important area the Ministry needs assistance is rehabilitation and/or building new Haafirs (huge man-made rain water catchments) in the Haud Plateau Region that neighbors Ethiopia, (a drought prone area), but which is of immense value to this country because it is where most of the livestock, the backbone of this country’s economy, is raised.

A third and very important area that this Ministry needs assistance in upgrading Community Strategic Boreholes across the country as they are the sole source of water supply to rural communities during long dry seasons. Such upgrading can be done by incorporating those (Strategic Boreholes) with solar/electric lights as well as with sanitation facilities and improving the basic knowledge/skills of the public through capacity building.

In conclusion, the Ministry of Water Resources finds it an imperative to write and forward this petition to the Islam bank development Bank Livelihood Project  of which the Ministry considers are morally obligated to support us in our pursuit of providing safe and sanitary water to all Somaliland communities in general and those areas mentioned in this Concept Note in particular.