# SoDMA, the Somalia Disaster Management Agency: droughts, floods and emergency aid

> What Somalia's disaster management agency SoDMA does, its history and legal basis, its departments, who leads it, the criticism it has faced, and how to reach it in an emergency.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/disaster-management-agency/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## What it does

SoDMA is the federal government's lead body for disasters. Its own profile lists its core jobs ([SoDMA, Institutional Profile, January 2026](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Institutional-Profile-Somalia-Disaster-Management-Agency-SoDMA.pdf)):

- coordinating disaster risk management across the country;
- running the **National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC)**;
- emergency preparedness, contingency plans and coordinating early warning;
- coordinating the humanitarian response with UN agencies and aid groups;
- collecting disaster information and situation reports;
- recovery, resilience and risk reduction programmes;
- writing disaster policy in line with national and international frameworks.

When drought worsened, the federal leadership told all government agencies to work through SoDMA, which [SONNA](/en/institutions/state-media/) described as the only official body coordinating aid and disaster response ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/sodma-commissioner-rallies-humanitarian-partners-for-unified-response-as-drought-situation-worsens/)).

## Its history

- **2011:** created by the Prime Minister of the [Transitional Federal Government](/en/history/transitional-governments-2000-2012/) during the 2010 to 2011 drought and famine ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/)). See [the Gu and Deyr rains](/en/data/gu-and-deyr-rains-1950-2023/) for how badly the [Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/) of 2010 failed.
- **27 June 2016:** Law No. 17 formally established it, after a presidential decree and approval by the Federal Parliament ([SoDMA, Institutional Profile](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Institutional-Profile-Somalia-Disaster-Management-Agency-SoDMA.pdf)).
- **2017 to 2022:** it worked under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management (same source).
- **August 2022:** the government made it an autonomous federal agency again, and the ministry was abolished, with SoDMA taking over its legal duties (same source; [SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/)).
- **5 February 2026:** the Council of Ministers approved a regulation for a national fund for disaster risk management. In June 2026 SoDMA began consultations on how the National Disaster Risk Management Fund will work ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/sodma-launches-consultative-meeting-on-the-establishment-of-national-disaster-risk-management-fund/)).
- **2026:** a new National Disaster Management Policy was under review. The commissioner said it makes the cash safety net that expands in a shock part of the national response ([SONNA](https://sonna.so/en/sodma-commissioner-says-somalia-advancing-toward-stronger-disaster-response-systems/)). See [Baxnaano: Somalia's safety net](/en/economy/baxnaano-safety-net/).

## How it is organised

Its departments are ([SoDMA, Institutional Profile](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Institutional-Profile-Somalia-Disaster-Management-Agency-SoDMA.pdf)):

- Office of the Commissioner
- Administration and Finance
- Human Resources
- Disaster Risk Reduction
- Humanitarian
- Recovery and Resilience
- Research, Training and Capacity Building, with a Center for Disaster Research and Capacity Building
- the National Emergency Operations Center
- an Aid Diversion Prevention and Accountability Unit
- a Logistics and Supply Chain Unit

**Leaders:** Mohamud Moallim Abdulle is commissioner; SoDMA's reports in 2026 name Dr Ahmed Abdi Aadan as deputy ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/eng/)).

## Criticism

- **December 2022:** the agency said it was close to running out of food stocks during the drought response ([Somali Disaster Management Agency, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Disaster_Management_Agency)).
- **May 2025:** the governor of [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) said SoDMA had delivered expired COVID-19 supplies instead of medicines, and in [Moqokori](/en/history/offensive-against-al-shabaab-2022-2025/) SoDMA was reported to have claimed delivery of 133 boxes of medicine where 12 boxes of out-of-date supplies arrived. [Hirshabelle](/en/states/hirshabelle/) State then suspended cooperation with SoDMA (same source).
- **Capacity:** observers say the agency has limited funding and staff for the size of the droughts and floods it must answer. It joined the Risk-informed Early Action Partnership (REAP) in 2023 (same source).

## How to use it

- **National emergency number:** 449 ([SoDMA](https://sodma.gov.so/)). Police: 991.
- **Help after a flood or drought:** SoDMA works through the member states' own disaster agencies and district authorities. Ask the district office which programmes are running.
- **Data:** SoDMA publishes situation updates and a weekly forecast on sodma.gov.so. FAO's [SWALIM](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/) and FSNAU publish river levels and food security warnings. See [International bodies in Somalia](/en/institutions/international-bodies-in-somalia/).

## Its legal basis

Law No. 17 of 27 June 2016 establishing the agency; the 2022 government decision making it an autonomous federal agency; the 2026 regulation on the National Disaster Risk Management Fund.

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