Synopsis

The Somalia Urban Resilience Project Phase II (SURP-II) is helping seven cities across Somalia strengthen local government capacity, improve service delivery, and expand access to resilient urban infrastructure, building on World Bank-financed support since 2016. To date, nearly 700,000 people have benefited from improved urban infrastructure, more than 1 million have received life-saving drought assistance, and over 526,000 person-days of employment have been generated for 15,000 local workers; 51 percent of infrastructure beneficiaries are women.

Development Challenge

Somalia’s urbanization rate stands at 54 percent, with cities expanding at 4.3 percent annually—well above the African average. Climate shocks now rival conflict as a leading driver of displacement, accelerating the growth of informal settlements and overwhelming limited urban infrastructure. Between 2021 and 2023, four consecutive failed rainy seasons triggered the country’s worst drought in 40 years, affecting over 7.8 million people and displacing more than 1.3 million. At the same time, sub-national governments receive minimal recurrent budget transfers, operate with skeletal staffing with limited technical capacity, and generate negligible own-source revenue, leaving them largely dependent on external assistance for capital investments and basic service delivery.

WBG Approach

SURP-II pioneers a direct-to-municipality delivery model in one of the world's most fragile settings. It is the only World Bank operation in Somalia implemented by city governments and using country systems. In a context where decades of conflict left sub-national government functions largely absent, the project channels infrastructure investment and institutional strengthening directly through municipal authorities, strengthening their role in service delivery, emergency coordination, and public financial management. This approach combines large-scale climate-resilient infrastructure—roads, drainage, and pedestrian networks across seven cities—with sustained capacity building in municipal finance, urban planning, and disaster preparedness, enabling local governments to progressively take ownership of urban development outcomes.

The project also adopts an integrated, multi-sectoral approach that combines large-scale infrastructure investment with institutional strengthening and emergency response capacity. A key innovation has been the use of biometric registration and cross-partner data sharing, which eliminated nearly 30,000 duplicate beneficiary records during the drought response, significantly improving accountability and aid effectiveness.

Results and Outcomes

Between 2020 and 2025, the following results have been achieved:

• Nearly 700,000 people benefited from improved access to climate-resilient urban infrastructure: 51 percent women, 87 percent host communities, 13 percent internally displaced people (IDPs).
• 39 km of roads and 45 km of pedestrian walkways were completed, with 51 km more under construction.
• Over 526,000 person-days of employment were generated for 15,000 local workers (12 percent women, 16 percent IDPs, 70 percent youth).
• Over 1,700 women have been employed in infrastructure civil works, of whom 44 advanced from unskilled to skilled roles through on-the-job training.
• More than 450,000 people received health and nutrition services under the municipal drought response (68 percent women and girls, 77 percent IDPs).
• Over 16,000 people received cash assistance through drought response activities (86 percent female-headed households, 100 percent IDPs). Title deeds were issued to nearly 16,000 displaced individuals, and 1,500 transitional shelters were constructed.
• Nearly 9,000 citizens participated in community consultations that informed investment prioritization and monitoring across all project cities, with strong female participation (44 percent).

Lessons Learned

• Urban infrastructure delivery in fragile and conflict-affected settings requires simple design, adaptive management, and scenario-based planning. Insecurity, flooding, and supply chain disruptions routinely affect construction schedules, making close supervision and coordination between the Project Coordination Unit and city implementation teams crucial. Raising issues as they arise, using adaptive supervision tools, is essential for effective project implementation.
• A phased, learning-by-doing approach reduces risk and enables more integrated urban programming. World Bank engagement began in two cities, with limited federal engagement, and has expanded to seven cities in all federal member state including Hargeisa in Somaliland, since 2016. This learning pathway is reinforced through joint planning and coordination across government and with partners.
• Pairing infrastructure investment with hands-on institutional strengthening leads to more durable results. Investments in grey infrastructure—such as roads, drainage, and streetlights— are more suitable when paired with capacity building for Somali counterparts, including training in municipal finance, procurement, contract management, safeguards, and the use of a geospatial management information system. In addition, it should measure both direct construction jobs in participating cities and indirect jobs created following completion of investments, such as the Gambol Bridge in Garowe. The model empowers municipalities to implement activities within their mandates, while federal and state government retains policy, strategy, and regulatory oversight.

Next Steps

In 2026, SURP-II will accelerate implementation in all seven cities to help meet the 90 km road target, while advancing two high-priority investments. These include the Mogadishu trunk drainage—designed under SURP-II and will be implemented under the recently approved Somalia Infrastructure Development for Jobs Multiphase Programmatic Approach (Stairs2Jobs MPA), which is critical for flood risk mitigation in an area that has experienced fatalities—and the Baidoa bypass road, which will improve urban connectivity and reducing road congestion.

Looking ahead, the World Bank’s strategic direction in Somalia’s urban and resilience sector includes urban resilience investments under Stairs2Jobs MPA, which would address infrastructure bottlenecks and access to jobs, better align aviation and urban investments along key corridors, and help crowd in private investment.