The largest city of Jubaland is Kismaayo, which is situated on the coast near the mouth of the Juba River. Kismaayo, the second largest city in South - central Somalia has been devastated by civil conflict, floods, famine and the prolonged presence of Al Shabaab, until October 2012. The IDP population in Jubaland is estimated to be 135,000 IDPs (UNHCR total IDPs per region report, September 2014). Kismaayo is believed to have the largest IDP population in the region mostly located in Farjano and Fanole areas. Recent IDP profiling conducted by NRC indicated that there are 6,059 IDPs households in Kismaayo towns in 80 settlements. In 2013, most IDPs in Kismaayo lived in former government buildings, or in ad-hoc temporary settlements which occupy the former government land. Some IDPs have spent over 21 years in these camps.  Since 2013, a wave of evictions (necessary to free up public facilities) further exacerbated the situation. Since 2014, the Juba administration has worked closely together with the Shelter cluster (SC) and partner organizations in securing more longer term land tenure solutions. In a first pilot project, ARC had received permanent land in an area called Dhagax Jabinta, which was deemed too far and dangerous by the IDP households. At the end of 2015, the Juba administration was able to find permanent land at the outskirts of the city. The land was deemed suitable by the IDPs.

Sustainable shelter solutions are a strategic focus of the SC. The SC, as a humanitarian coordination body, focuses on sustainable shelter solutions to ensure that communities are more resilient to future shocks with the solutions that have been provided regarding shelter. The Shelter Cluster therefore focuses on four main themes regarding the sustainable approach: (1) HLP (2) Owner Driven Approaches and community participation (3) Localized Solutions and (4) Building Back Safer. Together with the SC partners in Kismaayo, two typologies were piloted (similar in cost) to promote an informed choice based on local building culture.