6 June 2026 7:17 pm
Building a Future from the Ground Up in Somalia Today

Building a Future from the Ground Up in Somalia Today

Jun 5, 2026

A heavily loaded truck with dried vegetation drives through Mogadishu, Somalia, under sunny skies. by Yontoy Photography via Pexels

“When we came here, we lived in a tent,” Hawo says. “The heat was unbearable and we never felt truly safe.”

Hawo and Shukri are two of thousands of Somali families displaced by the adverse impacts of climate change, mainly prolonged droughts and environmental degradation that continue to drive displacement across Somalia.

In Doolow, where searing winds sweep through settlements often built from plastic sheets and tarpaulins, families once displaced by drought and conflict are finding new hope in homes built from the earth itself.

Their new shelters, sturdy, naturally cooler, and built with locally made mudbricks, are part of IOM’s effort to introduce vernacular earth-based, climate-adaptive construction across Somalia’s arid areas.

The approach replaces temporary plastic shelters with durable, sustainable materials and designs that respond to cultural needs and Somalia’s environmental pressures while restoring dignity to families who have lived too long in crisis.

Workers upgrade a shelter unit from tarpaulin and plastic sheets to locally sourced, earth-based materials.

Workers upgrade a shelter unit from tarpaulin and plastic sheets to locally sourced, earth-based materials. Photo: IOM/Raber Aziz

“This house is much better,” Shukri says. “It protects us and keeps my children safe, and it is cooler and more comfortable to live in. Compared to the shelters we had before, this one feels stronger, easier to maintain, and more secure for my family.”

As recurrent droughts and environmental degradation continue to act as drivers of displacement and put growing pressure on already fragile resources, the need for scalable and environmentally sustainable shelter solutions has become increasingly urgent in the face of climate change. For IOM, shelter is not a product, but a process, one that helps communities adapt, recover, and rebuild in a safe and sustainable way, while reducing pressure on the environment.

Hawo and her daughter stand outside their mudbrick shelter in Doolow.

Hawo and her daughter stand outside their mudbrick shelter in Doolow. Photo: IOM/Yusuf Abdirahman

To bring this vision to life, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) partnered with the International Centre for Earth Construction (CRAterre), a research institute for earthen architecture. Since 2022, the partnership has provided several rounds of training to local masons, authorities, and shelter partners to build knowledge and capacity in earth construction techniques.

“Earth is the most accessible, affordable, and climate-responsive building materials we have in Somalia,” explains Abdikarin Adan Salad, an IOM engineer involved in the programme. “By using local materials and training local builders and community members, communities are not only building shelters, they are building resilience against future climatic shocks.”

“Unlike temporary shelters often built from imported sheeting and short-term materials, earth-based shelters use locally sourced soil and natural materials with lower environmental impact while providing better insulation against heat,” says Manuel Marques Pereira, IOM Chief of Mission in Somalia.

Trained workers replace plastic sheets and tarpaulin with mudbricks on a shelter unit in Doolow.

Trained workers replace plastic sheets and tarpaulin with mudbricks on a shelter unit in Doolow. Photo: IOM

Previously, IOM upgraded 42 of Ladan’s 1,500 Improved Emergency Shelters. But in October 2025, work began on 50 additional mudbrick shelter upgrades through an owner-driven approach that incorporates a cash-for-shelter modality, empowering families to manage their own construction with guidance from IOM engineers and trained local masons.

“With the cash support we received, we were able to buy the materials needed to build our own shelter together with others in the community,” says Bisharo, a mother of five. “Being involved in building in the process made a big difference because it felt like we were creating a home.”

Bisharo uses her cash-for-shelter grant to hire trained masons from the displaced community and build a shelter tailored to her family's needs.

Bisharo uses her cash-for-shelter grant to hire trained masons from the displaced community and build a shelter tailored to her family’s needs. Photo: IOM/Raber Aziz

With the cash for shelter grant, Bisharo hired trained masons from the community and ensured the shelter unit matched her preferences. The approach, developed jointly with the authorities of Jubaland State and the Ministry of Public Works, Reconstruction and Housing, transfers ownership to displaced households while strengthening community skills.

Families reuse existing frames, upgrade shelters gradually as resources allow, and hire trained labour from within their communities, creating jobs and reducing costs. Refresher trainings support successful upgrades, from soil testing and brick making to structural design and shelter maintenance.

Local masons trained by IOM work on a mudbrick shelter upgrade in Doolow.

Local masons trained by IOM work on a mudbrick shelter upgrade in Doolow. Photo: IOM/Yusuf Abdirahman

This sustainable, environmentally friendly technique echoes what Somali and international experts also envision for the future of Somalia’s shelter and housing approaches to resolving displacement. In November 2025 in Mogadishu, the Ministry of Public Works, Reconstruction and Housing announced winning proposals under the Homegrown, Sustainable, and Scalable Shelter Solutions in Somalia initiative, a collaboration between IOM, the Ministry, CRAterre, and global design partners including YACademy Bologna.

Since April 2025, university students, architects, and diaspora experts have worked to develop a new generation of shelter designs. Their proposals blended Somali cultural aesthetics with environmental functionality, creating homes that breathe with the climate, conserve energy, and can be built affordably using local materials.

In Mogadishu, students showcase their proposed designs for low-cost, sustainable housing in Somalia.

In Mogadishu, students showcase their proposed designs for low-cost, sustainable housing in Somalia. Photo: IOM/Yusuf Abdirahman

Back in Doolow, as the afternoon sun glows over the red soil, the new homes stand firm, cool inside, with smooth mud walls that tell a story of resilience, reinvention, and hope.

“These shelters are more than just structures,” Bisharo says, looking at her children playing outside their home. “They give us a sense of stability and remind us that we have a place to call home.”

From the soil beneath their feet, Somalia’s displaced families are building their future, one brick at a time.

This story was written by Raber Aziz, Media and Communications Officer with IOM Somalia.

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Gulf Expat Reactions to Iran War: Loyalty in the local Authorities . . .

Gulf Expat Reactions to Iran War: Loyalty in the local Authorities . . .

Jun 4, 2026

A woman in white sits on rocks overlooking the sea at Nowshahr, under a dramatic cloudy sky. by Amir Rajabi via Pexels

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Gulf expat reactions to Iran war show us how countries like UAE instil loyalty in western migrants

Javier Bordón, Lancaster University

When the US and Israel launched their strikes on Iran on February 28 and Iran retaliated by targeting the Gulf Arab states, I was closely monitoring social media accounts from the region. I research Middle East politics, with a focus on the Gulf, and the social media platforms I use are full of people living in the region – including western migrants, or as they tend to style themselves, expats. To my surprise, from many of them I saw the same message: “It is safe and normal here.”

This was not a trivial claim – these messages were sent as the countries they live in came under attack. But the attitudes they exhibited reflect a broad strategy long cultivated by Gulf Arab regimes. This aims to instil in the people that opt to live there a sense of security, as well as aspiration for the lifestyle on offer and loyalty towards the country for making that lifestyle available.

More importantly, the expats’ reactions exposed the role that foreign residents and influencers have played in advancing a particular understanding of “normality”. Not only do they accept authoritarian rule in the Gulf, they have been pushing out messages about insecurity elsewhere.

To be clear, a lot of foreign workers did leave the Gulf, reportedly in the tens of thousands, when the conflict began. But even so, many of the initial reactions on social media, whether people stayed or opted to leave, projected this sense of security.

Part of the US security hub

These regimes have developed an image designed to attract global connectivity, foreign capital and flows of people and goods. The UAE, especially Dubai, has become a symbol of tax-free residency and luxury tourism. Qatar has established itself as reliable gas exporter and world-class mediator. Saudi Arabia has launched a sweeping reform project recasting national identity and the kingdom’s global role in championing “moderate Islam”, while Bahrain has worked early since independence to become a regional banking hub.

These state-building processes thrived under the security umbrella of US and other western military bases across the Middle East. Firmly embedded in the US sphere of influence, Gulf monarchies have benefited from precious diplomatic cover and access to global markets. Other regional regimes, meanwhile – notably Iran – were excluded. This was more often due to their hostility towards the US than for their brutal repression and disastrous governance at home.

By directing global attention to threats such as Iran, Gulf regimes forged a strong sense of domestic normality. But in recent years, a less reliable US regional policy has made the security arrangement increasingly uncertain, prompting Gulf regimes to explore alternatives. Without renouncing deeper engagement with the US, they welcomed cooperation with other powers outside the region, like China, as well as the possibility of closer relations with Israel and even a modus vivendi with Iran.

Despite ongoing rivalries, including within the regional forum, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), regional conflict de-escalation and management appeared to be the preferred means to continue insulating the Gulf normality. Yet the ongoing destruction in Gaza, closer US-Israeli alignment in the latter’s pursuit of regional dominance, and the ensuing pressure on Iran’s network of proxies has undermined this delicate balance.

Expats get political

The attack on Iran exposed foreign residents’ role in sustaining the image of “normality”. Until then, expats and influencers embodied this normality by displaying safe, privileged and apolitical lives.

I saw posts attempting to divert attention from the threat of war in the Gulf by people claiming to feel safer under missile attacks in Dubai and Doha than “after 9pm” in London or Manchester. Other posts preferred the prospect of missile attacks to being “bombed by 50% taxes”.

These sorts of comments tend to mimic narratives pushed by far-right movements in the west around crime, taxation and immigration.

A viral trend concentrated in the UAE but replicated across other Gulf countries featured influencers responding to the question “Aren’t you scared?” with imagery of members of the ruling families and messages such as: “No, because I know who protects us.” The UAE president’s much-publicised walk in Dubai Mall followed this paternalistic framing of security.

After the initial shock, many influencers returned to the old form of messaging, not posting about the war and focusing on showing their privileged “everyday” lives.

Controlling the message

It’s important to remember that Gulf Arab regimes possess robust censorship apparatuses and broad national security and anti-cybercrime laws that penalise content deemed to “cause panic” or “disturb public order”.

Authorities in Saudi Arabia were swift to remind residents that “photography serves the enemy”, banning unofficial sharing of damage caused by the war, while the UAE threatened severe sentences for people posting negative messages. There have been reports of people detained for posting the wrong content – more than 300 in Qatar alone. Heightened security concerns exposed western expats to coercive practices typically reserved to political dissidents.

Having invested efforts in insulating their domestic projects from external threats through seeking political accommodation with neighbours, including Iran, Gulf leaders may now pursue a different strategy. In fact, we’re already seeing some different approaches as various Gulf countries work out their own best approach to the changing situation in their region. Some, like Bahrain, remain hostile to Iran. Others, including Saudi Arabia, are more nuanced in their approach, looking overall to ensure security in the region.

But for regimes and expats alike, this is a time of reckoning for the parameters sustaining “normality” in the Gulf. Most certainly, the region will never be the same.The Conversation

Javier Bordón, PhD Researcher in International Relations, Lancaster University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The Conversation.


 

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If Kuwait Were a Company, Would You Buy In?

If Kuwait Were a Company, Would You Buy In?

Jun 3, 2026

Stunning view of modern skyscrapers in Kuwait City, showcasing urban architecture. by Tayssir Kadamany via Pexels

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If Kuwait were a company, would you buy the story?

No Image

By Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Smairi

As markets dissect the newly filed SpaceX prospectus, one useful question proposes itself: what if Kuwait had to present itself to investors in the same way? A prospectus is an unforgiving document. It strips away sentiment and asks what the asset base is, where the dependencies lie and whether the story can withstand scrutiny. If Kuwait were held to that same discipline, the more revealing questions would begin well beyond the oil story.

Viewed this way, Kuwait’s central issue is not simply its dependence on oil revenues as that point is already well understood. The more important question is where its deeper strategic dependencies lie and whether they have been developed into areas of national competence. Water is an obvious case. Kuwait depends fundamentally on desalination, but dependence by itself is not a strategy.

The relevant question is whether that reliance has been translated into enduring expertise, technological depth and industrial capability. Kuwait entered this field early, and institutions such as the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research have continued to contribute to desalination and water-management technologies. But the strategic test remains straightforward: when a country relies so heavily on a capability essential to daily life, has it built a durable and exportable advantage around it?

The same test applies to oil. It is not enough for the sector to remain the economy’s dominant pillar if its cost base continues to rise and the critical knowledge remains concentrated in a generation approaching retirement, without a sufficiently visible successor bench behind them. A serious investor would ask whether Kuwait is building the managerial depth, technical capability and institutional continuity needed to protect the long-term economics of its most important sector. The same logic applies in financial services.

Having an active banking sector is not enough on its own. What matters is whether Kuwait has a deep enough bench of national talent to lead that sector over time. When the Central Bank presses for Kuwaitization, the issue is not merely one of staffing policy. It points to a wider structural requirement: building a stronger pipeline of qualified national leadership for one of the country’s most consequential sectors.

What ultimately matters in any prospectus, however, is not only the quality of the underlying assets, but the system’s ability to organize those assets into a coherent operating model. Kuwait does not lack assets, capital or institutions. The more material question is whether they are strategically connected. Do energy, logistics, education, regulation and investment promotion operate as separate administrative tracks, or as part of a broader national model for value creation?

A serious investor would want to know not only what Kuwait owns, but whether the state can align mandates, reduce duplication, assign accountability clearly and sustain execution over time. In that sense, the constraint is not resource scarcity. It is coordination capacity which is the ability to turn national strengths from parallel holdings into a development model that compounds over time and produces growth, jobs and lasting national capability.

The same logic extends to soft power. Kuwait has a meaningful legacy in journalism, culture and social action, and its past cultural, diplomatic and humanitarian role is well established. But the strategic question is whether those strengths were institutionalized in ways that continue to generate influence, renew talent and produce new generations of platforms, tools and leadership. Historical distinction has value, but in strategic terms it matters most when it is embedded in institutions, sustained over time and translated into continuing relevance.

If Kuwait were a company preparing for deeper exposure to the world, these are the questions a serious investor would ask in its prospectus: what do we truly depend on, where have we turned that dependence into national specialization, and where are we still consuming more than we are producing in knowledge, capability and leadership? Countries, like companies, are not judged only by what they own. They are judged by what they build around their critical dependencies: institutional depth, human capital and the ability to convert necessity into lasting advantage.

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The Costs of Denial in Economic Growth

The Costs of Denial in Economic Growth

Jun 2, 2026

High-angle view of Algiers features bustling traffic, historic architecture, and vibrant city life. by Adem via Pexels

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The Costs of Denial

When countries experience rapid economic growth and falling poverty, leaders and development partners often overlook governance problems lurking beneath the surface. Citizens, meanwhile, encounter corruption, favoritism, and state dysfunction in their daily lives. Over time, trust erodes. In some cases, public frustration reaches a breaking point, triggering political upheaval, economic crisis, or even civil conflict. The result is almost always slower growth and lost development gains.

In a recent working paper, I show how this pattern has played out across three regions.

Middle East and North Africa

During the first decade of this century, countries across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) enjoyed rapid economic growth, declining poverty, and—contrary to popular belief—stable or falling inequality. An international institution labeled Tunisia as “a model country.” Yet Gallup’s Life Satisfaction surveys consistently ranked MENA as the unhappiest region in the world.

The reason was a breakdown in the region’s social contract. Governments had long provided public-sector jobs, free health and education services, and subsidized food and fuel in exchange for political acquiescence. As growing numbers of young people entered the labor force, governments could no longer deliver enough public-sector jobs. Citizens responded by taking to the streets. The Arab Spring overthrew four long-standing presidents and was followed by devastating civil wars in Libya, Syria, and Yemen. Much of the region has since experienced stagnating per-capita incomes; MENA is now the only developing region where poverty is rising.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Between 1995 and 2010, Africa’s GDP growth rate doubled and poverty began to decline for the first time in decades. The optimism was palpable. The Economist, which had once labeled Africa “a hopeless continent,” ran a cover story, “Africa Rising.”

Many observers noted that the boom had not been accompanied by significant structural transformation or improvements in human capital. Weak governance remained a major constraint. Still, the prevailing view was that the governance reforms that improved macroeconomic management would sustain growth and overcome these weaknesses.

That optimism proved misplaced. When commodity prices fell in 2014, per-capita growth collapsed and has remained close to zero ever since. Governance weaknesses have even undermined macroeconomic policy: today, roughly half of African countries are either in debt distress or at high risk of it.

South Asia

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh illustrate similar dynamics. Sri Lanka entered 2020 with serious fiscal vulnerabilities. Large tax cuts caused the fiscal deficit to balloon, and the country effectively lost access to international capital markets. Rather than restructuring debt and seeking IMF support, the government continued servicing creditors from dwindling reserves while financing deficits through money creation. Two years later, the country defaulted. GDP contracted by 7 percent, inflation reached 70 percent, and a popular uprising forced the president to resign. Although the economy has since stabilized, Sri Lanka has lost a decade of growth.

Bangladesh presents a different but equally instructive case. Over several decades, it achieved rapid growth, sharp poverty reduction, and social indicators that often outperformed those of India. Yet governance problems remained pervasive. In 2003, Bangladesh was ranked the most corrupt country in the world. Policymakers and international partners treated this coexistence of strong economic performance and weak governance—the “Bangladesh paradox”—as an intellectual curiosity rather than a warning sign.

Public resentment, however, continued to build. In 2024, student protests over public-sector job restrictions grew into a nationwide movement against the government, ultimately forcing the prime minister to flee the country. The resulting uncertainty has significantly weakened investment and growth.

What can be done?

If periods of rapid growth encourage leaders and development partners to deny governance problems, and that denial ultimately fuels instability, three lessons follow:

  1. Treat growth episodes with caution. Strong economic indicators should not crowd out other measures of social well-being and political legitimacy. The low life-satisfaction scores in MENA before the Arab Spring were an early warning that many ignored.
  2. Embrace transparency. Open discussion of governance failures is far healthier than denial. Acknowledging problems does not undermine growth; suppressing them often does.
  3. Use periods of prosperity to undertake governance reforms. Every reform creates winners and losers. Growth generates resources that can help compensate those who bear the costs. Good times are therefore the best times—not the worst—to address governance weaknesses.

The central lesson is simple: governance problems do not disappear during periods of rapid growth. Ignoring them merely postpones the reckoning. In many countries, the cost of that denial has been measured in lost growth, political instability, and, in the worst cases, violent conflict.

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Egypt Advances Disaster Risk Financing Strategies

Egypt Advances Disaster Risk Financing Strategies

Jun 1, 2026

A flood impacts an abandoned house by the Nile River in Cairo, Egypt. by Eslam Mohammed Abdelmaksoud via Pexels

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Egypt advances disaster risk financing through national workshop

31 May 2026
Source(s): United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction – Regional Office for Arab States
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Photo of participants of workshop sitting at table discussing and talking
UNDRR

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Egypt is taking important steps to strengthen its financial resilience to disasters and climate-related risks through the development of a national disaster risk financing strategy.

Government institutions, United Nations agencies, and national stakeholders gathered in Cairo for a national workshop jointly organized by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in coordination with the National Committee for Crisis Management and Disaster Risk Reduction affiliate to the Prime Minister’s Office.

The workshop marked an important milestone in supporting Egypt’s efforts to strengthen risk-informed public financing, enhance preparedness and recovery policies, and reduce the growing impacts of disasters and climate-related shocks on communities, infrastructure, and the national economy.

Strengthening risk-informed financing approaches

The workshop brought together representatives from national and government institutions to discuss the foundations of a comprehensive national approach to disaster risk financing and resilience planning.

Discussions focused on the key determinants and overall structure for developing the national strategy, including frameworks and approaches for disaster risk financing, and the classification of disasters and risks. In the workshop, international experiences and good practices related to preparedness financing and response were discussed.

Opening the workshop, Raidan Alsaqqaf, Deputy Regional Director of the Regional Office for Arab States at UNDRR, highlighted the increasing impacts of disasters on public finances, livelihoods, infrastructure, and essential services across the region. He emphasized:

“Countries that have clear and pre-arranged financing mechanisms are better able to protect the most vulnerable groups, maintain essential services, accelerate recovery, and reduce long-term losses.”

Additionally, in his opening remarks, Ghimar Deeb, Deputy Resident Representative of the UNDP Country Office in Egypt accentuated that “No single financial instrument can efficiently address all risks. Effective disaster risk financing protects people, livelihoods, public finances, and critical infrastructure. Therefore, the development of a Disaster Risk Financing Strategy aims to provide the Government of Egypt with a structured framework of financing instruments to respond more effectively to disaster-related losses.”

Building partnerships for resilience

The workshop further strengthened collaboration between government institutions and UN agencies working to advance resilience and sustainable development in Egypt. It also provided an opportunity to identify the next steps for the development of the national disaster risk financing strategy,  stakeholder engagement, institutional coordination, and implementation framework.

The initiative reflects the growing partnership between UNDRR and UNDP in supporting governments across the Arab region to strengthen risk-informed development, disaster resilience, and financing approaches that link climate adaptation, preparedness, and sustainable development priorities. Strengthening disaster risk financing is also critical to protecting development gains, sustaining economic resilience, and ensuring continuity of essential services during crises.

As climate and disaster risks continue to affect economies and communities across the Arab region, strengthening disaster risk financing is becoming increasingly important to support prevention, preparedness, resilient recovery, and long-term development planning.

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