For many families in Somalia, the year 2023 did not kick off with a great start. Sawdo*, a 30-year-old mother of seven was one of the many families who started the year with unprecedented move from their home of lifetime to a makeshift shelter. However, that was not the only tragedy the year held for her family.

Sawdo*, her husband and their seven children lived in a small town near Cagaaran district of Mudug region. They were pastoralists who relied on their livestock for food and income. Like many pastoralists across the country, the past year has been difficult with no green posture nor water, but they stayed and survived longer than many of their neighbours.

 In January this year, after the death of over 90% of their livestock, the family decided to move from their home and seek refuge in a camp for internally displaced people (IDP) in Mudug region.   They hoped to find humanitarian assistance and a better life there.

When they arrived at the IDP camp, Sawdo*’s husband found a job as a casual laborer to support his family. But his income alone was not enough to meet their basic needs, especially when the price of food and other basic needs were high.  

On the second week of their arrival, Sawdo* was registered for three months of unconditional cash transfer at a monthly rate of $US90, y to meet the immediate needs of vulnerable drought-affected households in Somalia. With the cash transfer, along with what her husband was making, the family was able to start a life in their new home. The eldest four of her children were enrolled in a school in the camp and the family was starting to adapt to the new life well.

However, Sawdo*’s life took a tragic turn when her husband died in a car accident on 13^th February 2023. He was the only breadwinner of the family, and his death left Sawdo* alone and devastated. She wondered how she would survive and take care of her children without him. She felt helpless as she had no other source of income or support, except for the multi-purpose cash assistance (MPCA) from the Somali cash consortium led by concern worldwide via Save the Children International funded by the European Union.

Although the loss of her husband was still a fresh wound, Sawdo* was glad to be receiving the assistance, which helped her buy food, water and other essentials for her children and family.

Sawdo* says she is thankful for the project that gave her a lifeline when she needed it most. She says she hopes one day to return to her home and rebuild her life there. Although, Sawdo* is concerned about her family’s future after receiving their final cash transfer, which had been their sole source of income for the previous three months, she says she is happy and hopeful for herself and her children.

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Sawdo*’s Story

“My name is Sawdo* and I am 30 years old.

I have 7 children, 6 boys and 1 girl and the oldest child is 11 years old and the youngest is 2 years old now.

I am also pregnant and in the last trimester of my pregnancy.

We are from a village near Cagaaran district of Mudug region in Puntland.

My family were pastoralist, and we were in a good situation before this last drought. We had our livestock and we depended on them for meat and milk as well as selling them when we needed cash for other services and products. So, they were practically our only source of livelihood.

Last year when the drought started, it became difficult with no water or pasture for the animals, we started losing them gradually.

After we lost almost all of our livestock, we decided to move to Galkaio district and finally in January this year we moved and settled in a camp hoping to find support and start a better life.

As soon as we arrived, my husband started working as a casual laborer to earn some money to support the family. He was taking jobs here and there but what he was making could not cover the needs of our family of nine.

Second week after our arrival in the camp, my family was registered onto this project, and we started receiving monthly cash relief of 90 USD for three months so we could be able to feed our children.

With the cash transfers along with what my husband was making, we were able to cover our family’s needs and save some money for emergency situations. We started sending the older four children to school and life was getting better for us.

Unfortunately, my husband died on 13th February in a car accident and I was alone and helpless. I worried about raising the children on my own, my husband was a loving father.

Since he was the family's sole breadwinner, and after his death the family could only rely on the cash transfers, which has helped us in covering our basic needs. Now, we have been living in the camp for three months and receiving the cash transfer. We use the cash to pay for food and water and for other essentials like medical bills.

We are grateful being registered and receiving the cash transfers right after our arrival. If we hadn't gotten this fund, our lives would have been hard, we might have not been able to feed our children, and we might have died of hunger.

As a mother, I am worried about my children and their health as we received our last monthly rate in March since it has been our only source of income, but for the moment, we are happy with what we have and optimistic about the future.

In the future, I want to go back to our home and start all over again and live that calm pastoralist life like we used to.”

Background/Project Information:

The European Union fund assistance aims to support the immediate needs of vulnerable drought-affected households through Unconditional Cash Transfers (UCTs). The project targeted 500HHs of newly arrived families in the Galkacyo district who have been affected by Somalia’s 2023 drought.  The integrated response aims to provide life-saving emergency assistance for people who are either newly displaced or those living in newly accessible, hard-to-reach  areas.