The UN Peacebuilding Fund is allocating three million U.S. dollars on a pilot project to provide peacebuilding and professional skills to Somali refugees volunteering to return from Kenya to Somalia.
The Fund, while announcing the pilot project, said it would also help refugees to settle down, and begin reintegration process into a community, the UN Secretary-General’s office said.
The UN Peacebuilding said the project is unique as it reaches across borders and targets the same population, first in asylum in Dadaab, Kenya, and then upon return to Baidoa, Somalia.
The project builds on an agreement between the governments of Kenya and Somalia and Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the voluntary repatriation of Somali refugees living in Dadaab.
UNHCR in Kenya, as well as UNHCR, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Food and Agriculture Organisations (FAO) will receive the funding.
Others are the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Somalia.
The Peacebuilding Fund is currently sponsoring other projects in Somalia, aimed at strengthening the national authority in areas liberated from rebel control.
The initiative is designed to promote coexistence and peaceful resolution of conflict in Somalia.
This is in addition to supporting the Somali Government’s priorities for stabilisation and peace dividends, including investment in jobs.(NAN)