About This Project
Rehabilitation of the Dam
Shirwac is a large agro-pastoral community under Borama District in Somaliland, bordering Ethiopia and serving as a central hub for more than 20 surrounding villages. Families in Shirwac rely almost entirely on agriculture and livestock for their livelihoods, making access to reliable water essential for daily life, food production, and stability.
The community currently depends on a dam that no longer meets growing demand. During dry seasons and periods of irregular rainfall, the dam loses water quickly due to seepage, forcing pastoralist families to travel long distances in search of water. This seasonal movement places a heavy burden on women and children, disrupts schooling, weakens livelihoods, and increases pressure on already scarce resources.
Through community consultations involving elders, women, youth, local authorities, and diaspora representatives, this project will rehabilitate and expand the existing dam and install the geo-membrane to significantly improve water retention and storage capacity. With reliable access to water, families will be able to remain closer to home, sustain their livestock and crops, and reduce the need for seasonal migration. Improved water availability will also help ease competition over resources, strengthening social cohesion and reducing the risk of conflict between pastoralist groups.
By supporting this initiative will directly contribute to long-term water security, climate resilience, and sustainable livelihoods for thousands of people in Shirwac and its surrounding villages.
The project is now entering its third phase, which focuses on multipurpose hall. For this phase, the local community and the diaspora are each contributing USD 7,000, bringing the total community contribution to USD 14000. This represents approximately 30 percent of the total project cost, with IOM expected to provide matching funds of USD 42000, equivalent to 70 percent of the total cost.
