Water and Governance in Humanitarian Policies
With some 500,000 refugees, Camp Dadaab is one of the largest in the world. Located near the Somali border in southeastern Kenya. The camps of Ifo, Dagahaley, Hagadera and, since 2011, the Kambios, Ifo2 and Ifo3 camps constituting all the camps around Dadaab, in Garissa County.
In this article, we expose the theme of water governance in a refugee camp the size of the city.
How to respond to people's needs in emergency situations.
People suffering persecution and civil wars that are currently in Somalia but are also exposed to drought and food shortages
Who are the political actors responsible for water management in these camps that include various populations that have crossed borders?
Political Background
On one hand, Somalia is a homogenous ethnically-Muslim country under threat of dislocation.
In the North, there are two countries Somaliland and Puntland. They are not recognized by the international bodies.
In the North, there are two countries Somaliland and Puntland. They are not recognized by the international bodies.
In the South, a separatist group or Islamic terrorist linked to the Al Quaida chain spread terror among the populations. Historically, the country is a territory of nomadic pastoralists with a clannish organisation and therefore little political homogenity. Formerly colonized by the United Kingdom in the north and Italy in the South, we are witnessing a delay of the North compared to the south thriving with a great dynamism. In 1969, the putsch of Siad Barre met a socialist regime close to the USSR. However, clan contestation and opposition will become more prevalent in government and will benefit the regime's decline. Add to this the conflict in Ethiopia concerning Somali troops. In 1991, it was the fall of the regime that then occurred a civil war for the succession. Independence in northern Somaliland creates the first secession.
In 1992, the UN forces intervened in 1992 to pacify the territory, but the failure of the mission led to the withdrawal of the troops in 1995. First of all, the United Nations Operation in Somalia I program then transfer to the United Nations Unified Task Force (UNITAF) Multilateral Forces. The "Restore Hope" mission is a failure and UNOSOM 2 thereafter, totaling 34 states. In 1998, Puntland declared its autonomy. Somalia now concerns the southern part of the territory including the capital Mogadishu. In 2000, a Transitional Federal Government was established with a place in the United Nations Headquarters and the Union of African Countries. However, the country remains the scene of tension and clan rivalry. There are many clashes within the capital between warlord Somalia: southern part of Mogadishu. The government sit in Nairobi is strongly criticized especially in relation to different foreign influences. The members of the Islamic courts, proclaiming the application of sharia and take the capital in 2006, are mostly welcomed by the population that has suffered for too long the burden of civil war. Weapons are forbidden and the courts are not very homogeneous with both moderate and radicals.
The intervention of the Ethiopian army in 2006, requested by the Transitional Federal Government, led to the dissolution of the group. In the face of this invasion, a strong nationalist sentiment is expressed by some radicals and ex-members of the Islamic courts. Harakat al-Shabab al-Mujahedin is a Somali Islamist terrorist group of salafist jihadist ideology that emerged in 2006 during the Ethiopian invasion. The conflict is bogged down between government troops, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and jihadist rebels. In 2011-2012, the rebel group controls almost the entire south of the country and much of the capital. In late 2011, Kenyan troops cross the southern border to fight rebel forces. They are fighting in Jubaland, a region historically coveted by Kenya. The offensive is successful, the Al Shabab group is pushed back from urban centers but remains powerful in rural areas The attack on Garissa University in Kenya on April 2, 2015, killing 152 people, remains a significant episode of the conflict.In 1992, the UN forces intervened in 1992 to pacify the territory, but the failure of the mission led to the withdrawal of the troops in 1995. First of all, the United Nations Operation in Somalia I program then transfer to the United Nations Unified Task Force (UNITAF) Multilateral Forces. The "Restore Hope" mission is a failure and UNOSOM 2 thereafter, totaling 34 states. In 1998, Puntland declared its autonomy. Somalia now concerns the southern part of the territory including the capital Mogadishu. In 2000, a Transitional Federal Government was established with a place in the United Nations Headquarters and the Union of African Countries. However, the country remains the scene of tension and clan rivalry. There are many clashes within the capital between warlord Somalia: southern part of Mogadishu. The government sit in Nairobi is strongly criticized especially in relation to different foreign influences. The members of the Islamic courts, proclaiming the application of sharia and take the capital in 2006, are mostly welcomed by the population that has suffered for too long the burden of civil war. Weapons are forbidden and the courts are not very homogeneous with both moderate and radicals.
Groundwater Monitoring and Governance
UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) in 1991 became the first refugee camp established to accommodate the victims of the civil war. Over time, population growth drives the creation of other camps within a radius of 40km. In 2011, episodes of particularly violent drought affecting the Horn of Africa boosted the internal demography of the camps. The camps then easily exceed their capacity. This new category of world population, created new governance. The camps are remote places from the social and urban world as well as ordinary domestic politics. It is an unprecedented space to which a particular management applies to manage the space politically.Here, water governance policies are carried out in cooperation with different national and transnational actors. It must ensure a protective device to ensure the food and water security of populations.
Model of the Merti aquifer and the fresh and saline groundwater zones.
Conceptual-model-of-the-Merti-aquifer-system-The-Merti-aquifer-consists-in-a-succession_Q640.jpg
Conceptual-model-of-the-Merti-aquifer-system-The-Merti-aquifer-consists-in-a-succession_Q640.jpg
As we can see on the model above, the Dadaab camp is located on an aquifer, the Merti aquifer. This storage space is located between two underground reserves of salt water, it is in high risk of salinization. The Ewaso N'Giro River lies to the west and flows east. High evapotranspiration and drought periods force people and farmers to use groundwater downstream.In Kenya, it is located below the equator, it is subject to a hot climate punctuated by two rainy seasons. However, the rainy seasons vary greatly by region. Thus, eastern Kenya is subject to a semi-arid climate or desert depending on the year.
Enirr, irrigation is here essential for the inhabitants of the region and the camp of Dadaab.
In 2011, extraction volumes were doubled from 1.8 million m3 / year from 18 forages (1) to 3.8 million m3 / year from 28 boreholes located in the camps (UNHCR, 2013).
An additional 60 additional boreholes in the region draw and add an additional 2.25 million m3 per year to the aquifer. (2 ).
Different parameters have to be taken into account, water quality, transitivity and storage capacity
Risk of salinization of groundwater in the waters of Dadaab camp
Numerical modeling techniques have been used by engineers through the various boreholes in the region. These models support analyzes of the underground layer for better water management taking into account environmental information.
Faced with this, humanitarian aid is proposed. The World Food Program (WFP) must be insured. Nutritional programs are supervised by the populations.
In some makeshift camps outside of Dagahaley, Médecin sans Frontières is not recognized.
This time is not hot, but it makes it difficult to practice basic hygiene practices.
MSF teams began distributing more than 100 cubic meters of water per truck every day according to MSF articles and sources.
This time is not hot, but it makes it difficult to practice basic hygiene practices.
MSF teams began distributing more than 100 cubic meters of water per truck every day according to MSF articles and sources.
Map of the Ewaso N'giro river from West to East (Dadaab Refugee Camp).
water-04-01009-g001-1024.png
In addition, the burden of diseases such as cholera are directly related to dirty water.
water-04-01009-g001-1024.png
In addition, the burden of diseases such as cholera are directly related to dirty water.
Epidemics of water-borne diseases include cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery, and hepatitis A and E.
In 1997 is launched the project sphere. This project aimed to improve the quality of humanitarian aid. The project proposes in the minimum standards of humanitarian aid, as well as different principles for water supply and insurance conditions.
The Care agency is responsible for the quality of the water, it finances bacteriological studies, and sampling samples to secure access to water. It is interesting to observe the management of water under the scientific prism. Policies proposed by governments and NGOs that directly depend on the decisions and results of researchers.
In 2004, UNICEF commissioned GIBB (East Africa) to conduct a study on the Merti Aquifer, which then supplied about 2.5 million cubic meters of water per year.
For refugee camps, rural centers and livestock (GIBB, 2004). The objectives were:
- identify and map the extent of the Merti aquifer;
- identify and quantify the sources of recharge of the aquifer;
- to determine the characteristics of the quality of the aquifer and to examine the long-term implications of these
the use of aquifers;
- determine the current level of catch and its effect on the aquifer; and
- recommend a plan for the development and sustainable management of the aquifer.
The Major Party of Aquifers is submitted to an otherwise insignificant stress, although the data available was very limited. In Dadaab, the work on the time, and the quality of water has deteriorated over time.(3)
According to university researchers in Neuchâtel, the current exploitation of groundwater resources in the Merti aquifer is sustainable.(4)
An article by the Guardian had discussed the problems of corruption within the camp on the conditions of repatriation. Some UNHCR members would ask the refugees for money to send them to their countries of origin. A repatriation supposed to be free according to the spokespersons of the UNHCR. The inhabitants of the camp fear cuts of water if it denounces some actions (5).
(4) Lucien Blandenier, 2015: Recharge quantification and continental freshwater lens dynamics in arid regions : application to the Merti Aquifer, PhD thesis presented at the Centre for Hydrogeology and Geothermics of the University of Neuchâtel.
https://doc.rero.ch/record/278340/files/00002503.pdf
In 1997 is launched the project sphere. This project aimed to improve the quality of humanitarian aid. The project proposes in the minimum standards of humanitarian aid, as well as different principles for water supply and insurance conditions.
The Care agency is responsible for the quality of the water, it finances bacteriological studies, and sampling samples to secure access to water. It is interesting to observe the management of water under the scientific prism. Policies proposed by governments and NGOs that directly depend on the decisions and results of researchers.
In 2004, UNICEF commissioned GIBB (East Africa) to conduct a study on the Merti Aquifer, which then supplied about 2.5 million cubic meters of water per year.
For refugee camps, rural centers and livestock (GIBB, 2004). The objectives were:
- identify and map the extent of the Merti aquifer;
- identify and quantify the sources of recharge of the aquifer;
- to determine the characteristics of the quality of the aquifer and to examine the long-term implications of these
the use of aquifers;
- determine the current level of catch and its effect on the aquifer; and
- recommend a plan for the development and sustainable management of the aquifer.
The Major Party of Aquifers is submitted to an otherwise insignificant stress, although the data available was very limited. In Dadaab, the work on the time, and the quality of water has deteriorated over time.(3)
According to university researchers in Neuchâtel, the current exploitation of groundwater resources in the Merti aquifer is sustainable.(4)
An article by the Guardian had discussed the problems of corruption within the camp on the conditions of repatriation. Some UNHCR members would ask the refugees for money to send them to their countries of origin. A repatriation supposed to be free according to the spokespersons of the UNHCR. The inhabitants of the camp fear cuts of water if it denounces some actions (5).
References
(1) Lantagne, Pezzi, Mahamud, 2009: Water Safety Plan: Dadaab Refugee Camps, CDC.
(2) Enghoff, Hansen, Umar, Gildestad, Owen, Obara, 2010: In Search of Protection and Livelihoods:
Socio-economic and Environmental Impacts of Dadaab Refugee Camps on Host Communities.
(3) Albert Mumma, Michael Lane, Edward Kairu, Albert Tuinhof, and Rak Hirji, 2011: Kenya, Groundwater gouvernance, Water partnership program.
(5) Sally Haden, 2019 : If you Pay, you'll go, The Guardian.
https://doc.rero.ch/record/278340/files/00002503.pdf
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