The Dolow Urban Profile is part of a series of working paper summarizing major aspects of an urban analysis from the spatial prospective for elaborating on solutions for long term urban development and current displacement crisis in Somalia.

That includes considerations of the development potentials and constraints with a time horizon of five to ten years.

Dolow’s context displaces a great dynamism, where its stability and economic potential given its strategic location are matched by vulnerability to environmental threats and its attraction to IDPs. The development of Dolow therefore can change quite quickly as it also depends on the overall economic, social and environmental trends in the country, and the bordering countries: Kenya and Ethiopia. The paper attempts to capture the main settlement topics and link them to the demands of the various communities living in town (including returnees, IDPs and the host community).
The profile was developed under the Midnimo Programme jointly implemented by International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the United Nation Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), which support the Attainment of Durable Solutions in Areas Impacted by Displacement and Returns in Jubaland and South West States. It stems from a newly established UN Peacebuilding
Programme and aligns itself with broader peacebuilding and stabilization objectives championed by the Ministry of Internal and Federal Affairs and Regional Authorities in Jubaland and South West States.