Partners & Programs

Somali Disaster Resilience Institute has a number of partners with whom we run  a number of projects.

Government of Federal Republic of Somalia.

SDRI was strategic partnership with a number of Federal Ministries and Agencies to strengthen a number of areas of cooperation which include, but are not limited to: Joint capacity building, development and support activities and programs; Joint research and development (R&D) activities and programs in the fields of disaster resilience, disaster risk reduction and management; Exchange of research results and publications; and Organization of joint workshops, conferences or symposia.

Initiative for Disaster Resilience and Humanitarian Affairs, Elliott School for International Affairs, George Washington University (GW) and Gate s Foundation

The Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy is dedicated to the systematic strengthening of global humanitarian leadership, a process that integrates education, research, and application, to achieve increased resilience in communities and individuals impacted by natural and manmade disasters. SDRI and GW are implementing together a 3 – year Disaster Resilience Leadership Program funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Somalia (South central, Puntland and Somaliland).

The ResilientAfrica Network – (RAN).

The ResilientAfrica Network (RAN) funded by USAID is a partnership of 20 African universities i n 16 countries. It is led by Makerere University with Initiative for Disaster Resilience and Humanitarian Affairs, Elliott School for International Affairs, George Washington University, Stanford University and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) as partners.

With RAN, SDRI is employing resilience research, innovation and deliberative polling as one of the methodologies for community consultations to inform its resilience innovations agenda. The Deliberative Polling is a unique form of consultation that combines techniques of public opinion research and public deliberation to construct hypothetical representations of what public opinion on a particular issue might look like if participants were given a chance to become more informed.

Somalia Resilience Innovations Hub (Somalia RIHub) – ResilientAfrica Network (RAN)

Somalia RIHub is under ResilientAfrica Network at Makerere University funded by USAID through US Global Development, USAID through the Horn of Africa Resilience Innovations Lab HA RILab based at Jimma University in Ethiopia. The Somalia RIHub is currently focusing on addressing challenges of drought within the region and of internal displacement in Somalia. Additionally, Somalia RIHub focuses on enhancing adoption of resilience based approach to programming that provides a framework for analyzing resilience and enables people to discover how to be more resilient to shocks and stresses. To achieve this, Somalia RIHub has a wide network of innovators, students and faculty members in improving well-being though generating local innovative solutions to specific development challenges in African communities.

The Somalia RIHub Specific focuses:

  • Conduct analysis of resilience qualitative and quantitative data to develop resilience indices and dimensions.
  • Conduct an innovation grant call and select suitable proposal to form a portfolio of innovations at the hub
  • Support a number portfolio of innovators to incubate and develop their ideas
  • Support innovation capacity building activities for students, faculty and community members in Somalia
  • Rally stakeholders to spur resilience innovations in Somalia.
  • Promoting resilience innovations learning among partners, community and donors

Program to Enhance Resilience in Somalia – PROGRESS

The Program to Enhance Resilience of Communities in Somalia (PROGRESS) is 3 year project funded by the United States Agency for International Development USAID (OFDA, FFP, and the Mission) that aims at increasing the resilience of 16,000 Somali households and target communities experiencing recurrent shocks in three regions of Somalia Gedo, Bay and Lower Shabelle. Initiative for Disaster Resilience and Humanitarian Affairs, Elliott School for International Affairs, George Washington University and SDRI together developed a resilience framework for target communities to strengthening the evidence-based approaches to develop and implement policies and programs to enhanc e community resilience.

PROGRESS has three major purposes under its theory of change:

i. Purpose 1: Increased institutional capacity of target communities to adapt to shocks and stresses.

ii.Purpose 2: Increased capacity of male and female members of 16,000 households to adapt to economic, nutrition, ecological and social shocks.

iii. Purpose 3: Promote robust learning of communities, implementers, USAID and others

Department for International Development (DFID) through the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED): Urban Humanitarian Crisis Project

With funding from the Department for International Development (DFID) through the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), SDRI Somali Disaster Resilience Institute SDRI undertakes research studies aimed at generating evidence that will improve the protection of internally displaced communities benefiting from humanitarian resilience programming in Somalia. Specifically, SDRI will analyze and prioritize self-identified IDP protection needs of the IDP communities, identify gaps in coordination of stakeholders involved in IDP Protection responses , analyze how the IDP protection approaches may be integrated into resilience programming across resilience dimensions, propose institutional frameworks or systems to enable adequately identification, inclusion and support across social, economic, physical and rights based protection amongst IDPs and evidence-based recommendations to improve the IDP Policy implementation in Somalia

Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Somalia, Albany Associate s and Oxford University’s Centre for Socio -Legal Studies

The primary goal of this program is to strengthen the role of media and universities to hold security services to account promote the role of media actors as human rights defenders as well as to strengthen the legal enabling environment for freedom of speech and expression to promote accountability of the security services. Specific objective(s): 1) Strengthening the accountability of state security institutions;

(2) Rebuilding the social contract by repairing the relationship between media and security forces; (3) Improving the link and synergies between customary law and formal justice systems; (4) Supporting and strengthening human rights defenders and civil society; and (5) Fighting against impunity

IGAD Monitoring Environment and Security for Africa (MESA) Program – Somalia

The general objective of MESA Program is to increase information management capacity of IGAD regional and national institutions in support of decision and policy makers and facilitate sustainable access to Africa-wide environmental information derived from earth observation technologies. The specific objective is to enhance the assessment and monitoring of land degradation, natural habitats and forest resources for sustainable land management.

Response 2 Resilience (R2R)

Response 2 Resilience is an international program dedicated to the systematic strengthening of leadership within the disaster risk management and humanitarian assistance community through research, training, and advocacy. R2R is partnering with the Global Disaster Preparedness Center to support local preparedness research at Somali Disaster Resilience Institute. Together, they are undertaking research on Assessing the Leadership Capacity of Banaadir Regional Administration in Building Resilience to Internal Displacement.

Global Teacher Education Program (GTEP)

The Global Teacher Education Program (GTEP) is a successful teacher education certificate program designed by the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) at the University of Minnesota (UMN) and Somali Disaster Resilience Institute, Center for Sustainable Education for Resilience and Development. The program provides educators with both an academic experience, participating in workshops led by University of Minnesota instructors, and a field experience observing in classrooms in local schools. Workshops are specifically designed to meet the needs of partner institutions, so every program is different. In general the program provides participants the opportunity to learn about innovative teaching strategies and methodologies us ed in U.S. schools, develop English language proficiency, and engage in experiential learning through classroom observations

OPERATIONAL CAPACITY

SDRI is a multidisciplinary research and capacity development institute. We develop comprehensive research and training programs for the complex resilience problems due to clim ate and conflict that are tailored of the target communities. We design and undertake research and training programs through traditional but innovative approaches in a community friendly and conflict sensitive. This is pertinent in our real time and real world rigorous research; leadership capacity building for community and organizational leaders, policy makers and other stakeholders with learning opportunities in the climate, conflict and public health disaster resilience; education and training opportunities; national and international networks for collaboration in disaster resilience teaching, research and engagement and our robust learning and sharing of disaster resilience expertise and innovation. To do this we draw upon a number of programs from within our eleven main resilience themes:

  1. Disaster Resilience Leaders hip
  1. Climate and Environment
  1. Food and Agriculture
  1. Water Resources Management
  1. Technology and Innovation
  1. Peace and Conflict Transformation
  1. Media and Good Governance
  1. Population and Public Health
  1. Gender and Inclusive Growth
  1. Statistics for Resilience and Development
  1. Teacher and Faculty Development
  1. Sustainable Economic Development