Webinar on Land Administration to address Displacement and Sustainable Development in Baidoa, Somalia

On 23 December 2024, the Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI) and the Arab Land Initiative of UN-Habitat organized AUDI’s ninth session of its Cities in Action webinar series. The webinar, titled “Land administration to address challenges of displacement and sustainable development: the city of Baidoa in Somalia as a model” featured an interview with the Mayor of Baidoa, Somalia, His Excellency Mayor Abdullahi Ali Watiin. This is part of a broader collaboration between UN-Habitat and AUDI aimed at developing urban policy research and strengthening networks with municipalities in the Arab states.

The webinar focused on the implications of the rapid growth of Baidoa due to the settlement of more than 700,000 displaced people in the city. Mayor Watiin highlighted the importance of modernizing land administration and developing mechanisms for dealing with land ownership disputes, as well as developing infrastructure and allocating land to accommodate and empower displaced people. He also emphasized the importance of activating community participation to support development and conflict resolution efforts. Mayor Watiin described the mechanisms developed to deal with land management and conflict resolution through cooperation between the Municipality of Baidoa and UN-Habitat, the World Bank and the International Organization for Migration, with the aim of providing sustainable solutions to address the crisis.

AUDI’s Cities in Action webinar series is created for an audience of specialists and professionals interested in urban development affairs and is intended to enrich discussions on urban development across all Arab cities and help to identify pioneering urban development projects.

Watch the webinar “Land administration to address challenges of displacement and sustainable development: the city of Baidoa in Somalia as a model” in English, here.