In late 1997, southern and central Somalia were hit by unprecedented floods affecting the lives and livelihoods of an estimated one million people. This Evaluation reviews Phase I of the international response to the floods - the Somalia Inter-Agency Flood Response Operation - between November and 3 1st December 1997. The Inter-Agency Flood Response Operation was a complex and expensive logistics operation to distribute emergency assistance to scattered and isolated flood affected populations. It was also a test of the international humanitarian system's capacity to respond to an acute emergency in a country which has been without a government for six years.br Overall, Phase I of the Somalia Inter-Agency Flood Response Operation is evaluated as a success. Humanitarian agencies in Somalia demonstrated their capacity and capability to respond to short term humanitarian needs. While the initial objective of the operation to 'rescue' flood affected populations was not fulfilled, the objectives to ameliorate the immediate humanitarian effects of the floods and avert a nutritional and health crisis in the worst affected areas were, by and large, achieved. The opportunity was taken to apply past lessons learned from working in Somalia, and innovative programming was apparent in several areas. The inter-agency character of the operation was commendable and the level of codment and collaboration that was achieved establishes an important precedent for future humanitarian operations in Somalia. This report seeks to record these achievements, as well as identify areas where the humanitarian system in Somalia could be strengthened.

All terms defined and explained in the glossary are included in an alphabetical list. An index helps to find a particular term easily and gives an overview of the terms included. Very often descriptive text, related terms, synonyms and antonyms are given in addition to the proper definition to help the reader to understand the term in its context and practical use. Sources have been specified for all the definitions or different parts of a definition and the descriptive text. The definition given is the one preferred and commonly used by FAO. Whenever useful or necessary, a general or basic definition has been added to a term which is defined for the purpose of integrated resource planning and management or related subjects. Where no agreement has been yet reached or definitions vary significantly from each other, more than one definition has been listed.

The mandate of the preparation mission was to conduct a baseline survey covering socioeconomic, health, and technical aspects. In addition, the mission was to finalise the first and second five programme villages. The focus of the mission was deliberately on remote rural villages of the Bari Region that need water supply services. While the need for water extends beyond the villages visited, the purpose of the field visit was to deepen the understanding of the team In the rural areas so that clusters of villages could be selected as having priority and appropriate activities be planned In hygiene education and cost recovery. The general and specific objectives are mentioned in the Terms of Reference, which can be found in Annex 8.

(Extract from Summary)The report describes the observations and recommendations resulting from a range management consultancy in support of the Soil Erosion Control Project implemented by the NGQ Cooperazione Intemazionale (COOPI) in Borama and Baki Districts, western Somaliland, and funded by the European Community. During the mission, focus was on biological measures to reduce soil erosion, in particular through range management techniques, and rehabilitation of eroded land. Because the first phase of the project ended early May 1997, recommendations aim especially at the proposed second phase. Half of the projectandrsquos target villages were visited and issues related to range, livestock and forests were discussed with community membersrange condition and erosion problems were inspected around the communities and the projectandrsquos and private nurseries were visited as well. Observations and conclusions are described in the report.