Somaliland delegation meets donor agencies in Nairobi to plan Waheen Market reconstruction

Somaliland Foreign Affairs minister Dr. Essa Kayd sent a passionate appeal to the United Nations and donor agencies to help in the rebuilding of the Waheen Market in Hargeisa which was razed down on April 1.

Dr Kayd led a delegation of Somaliland top government officials among them Planning minister Omar Ali and the deputy finance minister Rhoda Elmi alongside Dr Jama Muse Jama who chairs the joint national response committee and the Somaliland envoy to Kenya Mohamed Mohamoud to a meeting with the donor agencies at the Danish Ambassadors’ residence in Nairobi to discuss the modalities of how to help the victims and reconstruction efforts of the market where goods and property worth approximately US dollars 2 billion was destroyed.

The Somaliland delegation briefed the representatives of the international community the extent of the fire destruction and what is being done to start the reconstruction process.

The joint preliminary assessment was presented to international donor partners in the meeting held in Nairobi. The UN team and partners have been involved in the collection of data, while also jointly working on a more detailed assessment report with Somaliland partners.

“Our plea is for the international community to help not only in the reconstruction process but also help those affected overcome the trauma they are going through in the aftermath of inferno,” said Dr Essa Kayd, the foreign minister of Somaliland told the donor agencies which have formed.

The agencies represented included – the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN-Habitat, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), UN Women, the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). There was also representation from the Danish, Swedish, Dutch, and United Kingdom embassies and high commissions.