Baidoa - The UNSOS Service Delivery Management Pillar reinforced its lifesaving role in stabilizing Somalia during a field visit to Baidoa, showcasing logistics, engineering, and life-support services for AUSSOM. This support is crucial for AUSSOM to fulfil its mandate of enabling conditions for effective stabilization and sustainable peace in Somalia.

“UNSOS has played a pivotal role for the success story of ATMIS or AUSSOM. It has been the backbone in supporting us in fulfilling our mandate. No operation could go successfully if UNSOS is not supporting”, stated AUSSOM Sector 3 Commander in Baidoa, Brigade General Besfat  Fente Tegegn. He further expressed his deep gratitude for the unwavering support that UNSOS has been providing to the African Union Mission in Somalia, emphasizing the benefits of this fruitful partnership: “UNSOS has contributed for the troops to stabilize and let us focus on our operations. They are providing rations, water, healthcare, fuel, engineering, new vehicles, aviation services, medical services, and maintenance support”.

During the visit, the UNSOS delegation, led by the Chief of Service Delivery, Graan Jaff, accompanied by Juan Manuel López-Palafox, Chief Engineering & Facilities Management Section, engaged in discussion with the Sector Commander of the African Union peace operation mission in Baidoa. General Tegegn, commands 400 AUSSOM troops from the Ethiopian National Defence Forces, including 10% women.

The Sector Commander also highlighted UNSOS’s crucial role in overcoming operational challenges: “The timely delivery of UNSOS in terms of logistics, engineering, and life support has significantly enhanced our field operation and readiness”. He cited a key example: “During the heavy floods in October-November 2024, most of our Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) were submerged and some of our equipment was destroyed. UNSOS rapidly responded to our request by providing tenders, pumps, and all other required materials in order for us to go through those challenging times”.

UNSOS also enhances security by supporting capacity building programs and infrastructures for the Somali Police Force. Superintendent of Police, Isone Sabina Rose, an Individual Policer Officer (IPO) from PCC Uganda in AUSSOM Baidoa, serves as an advisor to Somali police force management and facilitates training sessions to officers in security, office and station operations, patrols and community policing. “UNSOS provides the materials we use for training and supports to build the borehole water project, which is now in use, fully furnished the police station and the clinic which is going to be constructed”.

The UNSOS delegation, along with the UNSOS Regional Administration Office (RAO) in Baidoa, Olufemi Olugbemi, inspected ongoing projects and facility upgrades, reaffirming UNSOS’s commitment to ensuring vital support and security for its partners. One standout initiative is a rainwater harvesting system and wastewater treatment plant that supplies clean water to 700 personnel, including AUSSOM troops, UN agencies, UNTMIS, and UNSOS staff, while contributing to the sustainability of the environment.

The UNSOS rainwater harvesting system and the wastewater treatment plant “is one of the best flagship projects we have”, explains Shillah Sopia, the Quality Assurance/Quality Control Engineer at UNSOS. Given Baidoa’s water scarcity, she highlighted the sustainability of this Water Plant: “The positive outcome is in terms of water conservation. First of all, using what is readily available from rainwater, we are harvesting to take it back to the system and reuse it back, as well as recycling what we are using and not deposing it. The water that we use does not go to waste as we bring it back into the system to recycle and use it”.

The water facility includes two 10,000 liters tanks each that provide purified water for drinking and cooking, and recycled water for washing, toilet flushing, dust control and irrigation, which not only support environmental sustainability creating a cooling factor, but also provide the greenery effect, which has a calming effect that improves living conditions in an area with harsh weather indicators.

As part of the field visit to Sector 3, the delegation also met with UNSOS staff across various sections, including transport, medical, ICT, warehousing, engineering and facilities management, and welfare to strengthen coordination, enhance staff living and working conditions in complex environments.

As a strategic enabler and logistics support mission operating in Mogadishu and across five sectors in Somalia, UNSOS remains steadfast in its commitment to fostering peace and security in Somalia. This dedication reflects the enduring partnership between the African Union, the Federal Government of Somalia, and the United Nations, who are all working together to achieve long-term stability in the region.