IOM Delivers Emergency Aid to Fire Victims in Bosaso, Somalia

GENEVA, Switzerland, September 5, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- IOM has delivered emergency aid to more than 100 people burned out of their homes when fire raged through a displacement camp in the town of Bosaso in the Puntland area of Somalia.

A blaze, possibly started by a cooking fire, broke out on August 16th at the 55 Bush settlement in Bosaso, which lies in the Bari region of northeast Somalia.

IOM worked with local authorities and partner agencies to provide emergency aid to more than 100 people whose makeshift shelters were destroyed. The traditional shelters are called “buuls” and are made of wooden sticks, cloth and cardboard boxes.

Isaac Munyae of IOM Somalia said that most displaced people in Bosaso are from different parts of south central Somalia and tend to cluster together based on their clans.

A rapid assessment after the fire identified urgent needs including shelter, food, water, non-food relief items, protection for under-age children, and protection for women and girls from gender-based violence (GBV).

IOM helped the local authorities to provide water trucking, shelter, water, hygiene and sanitation kits, and other non-food relief items for the affected families.

IOM's emergency assistance in Bosaso is supported through its mixed migration programme, which is funded by the US State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM).