Solar streetlights to make residents of Janaale, Somalia, safe at night

On 8 February 2021, new streetlights were installed in the town of Janaale, situated in the Lower Shabelle Region of Somalia, offering its residents the possibility to feel safe and secure at night. The 50 new solar-powered streetlights were installed along two kilometres of roads in Janaale.

This was possible thanks to the European Union support under its stabilisation programme for Somalia “Daryeel”, implemented by the International Organisation for Migration.

Ahmed Halima, a resident of Janaale, described how the streetlights have impacted women in the area, “When the lights started working, we started feeling that we can walk freely at night to shop and visit our neighbours without fear of being attacked.”

This project is of particular importance for the town that is now benefiting from the EU’s recovery and stabilisation support after Somalia’s Government recovered the area al-Shabaab, a terrorist group .

The streetlights bolster the local administration’s efforts to ensure security in town. District Commissioner, Abdullahi Ahmed Ali Waafow, believes that the project will deter the sporadic attacks from al-Shabaab that have been a menace to the residents since the town was recovered by the Government in March 2020: “The nightly challenges in Janaale are over. It used to be pitch black during nighttime, which enabled al-Shabaab’s clandestine movements into the town to violate the peace .”

Under the “Daryeel” project, launched in 2020, the EU supports Somalia’s recovery and stabilisation in areas newly recovered from Al-Shabaab following the military operations of the Somali National Army, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and other international actors.

With a budget of EUR 15 million over three years, the project is able to deliver swiftly on critical public infrastructure projects – health clinics, street lights, markets, police stations, clearing overgrown bush along key roads. This helps to mitigate against improvised explosive devices in newly recovered areas in close coordination with local communities.

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Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace