Voice from the frontline: Somalia's climate crisis and Abdulaziz's appeal

The United Nations has characterized floods that displaced hundreds of thousands of people in Somalia and neighbouring countries in East Africa following a historic drought as a once-in-a-century occurrence. El Niño-induced intense rainfall and floods have impacted a staggering 2.4 million individuals, with 1.1 million people forced from their homes as of November 2023. Sadly, there have been 110 documented fatalities across the country and about 41,000 hectares of land have been flooded, and the floods have affected 36 districts nationwide.

While organizations like Oxfam and United Nations agencies went into action to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to affected communities, 31-year-old Abdulaziz Sheik Nor, the founder of Arladi Environmental and Human Rights Organization, a grassroots-based organization from the Baidoa community in Somalia, swung into action by providing real-time situation updates to affected individuals, families and communities on how to stay safe to avoid further drowning, injuries and deaths.

“Together with my small team of volunteers, we went all out, leveraging every platform possible – word of mouth, through heads of households, community leaders, youths, message app groups, social media - to ensure that people are reached with messaging on how to stay safe and alive during the flooding.

“We shared basic tips of when to turn off all your house electricity to avoid being electrocuted. Signs to look out for to know when to evacuate the home when flood comes and how to survive when confronted by flood. When the water began to abate, we shared basic hygiene measures as people returned to what remained of their homes,” Abdulaziz said.

"We are not speaking enough about the climate shock that my people in Somalia have been struggling to deal with. The trauma of losing homes and properties acquired over years of labor and pain. The farmers who lost approximately 41,000 hectares of farmland after months of cultivation and nurturing are in shock that they often bear with silent grunts," Abdulaziz added.

Beyond the safety tips, Abdulaziz and his team visited camps, listened, captured, and documented as affected families shared their worries, fears, needs, hope and what they consider solutions to tackle this vicious cycle of drought and floods.

Before the El Niño induced flooding swept through Somalia, Abdulaziz, through his initiative, the Arladi Environmental and Human Rights Organization, had been planting trees in Somalia to help regulate local climate conditions, protect natural habitats, and support the resilience of communities dependent on ecosystem services.

“If the photos and stories we capture with our small phones would get to the ears and sights of decision-makers, my people want you to make good the promises you made at Conference of Parties (COP28) to make climate and development financing more available, accessible, and affordable to enable us to adapt to these large-scale changes we are seeing in our climate,” Abdulaziz added.

The impacts of climate breakdown are widespread, affecting every corner of the globe, but vulnerable communities like that of Abdulaziz feel the impact the most. We need big changes. We have to make things more equal, do a lot to stop climate change, and change what we focus on in our economy. That's the only way to save our planet and make sure everyone is okay.