Jigjiga
Jijiga
Where the Office of the Ugaas works from, and the point of contact for government, international agencies and the diaspora.
Office of the Ugaas
The Community
The Office of the Ugaas serves four districts in the Somali Region of Ethiopia: Qalaafe, Dhoobaweyn, Shilaabo and Higlooley. Several communities live side by side in those districts, and the work of the Office is for all of them. The Office itself is based in Jigjiga.
The projects serve everyone
Several communities live side by side across the districts the Office works in. When a well is drilled, a classroom built or a health post opened, everyone in that place benefits — no one is counted by lineage. That is the first condition attached to any project the Office supports.
Where the Office works
Four districts and one seat. The Office works with all four equally.
Qalaafe
Kelafo
One of the four districts the Office serves — and all the communities living there.
Dhoobaweyn
Dobaweyn
One of the four districts the Office serves — and all the communities living there.
Shilaabo
Shilabo
One of the four districts the Office serves — and all the communities living there.
Higlooley
Higloley
One of the four districts the Office serves — and all the communities living there.
How life is lived
Most households are pastoralist and agro-pastoralist — camels, goats, cattle and, near the river, small farms. The rains decide everything: when they come, life is manageable; when they are late, nothing is.
Drought is the hardest test. Herds are lost, water moves further away, children leave school. After every drought, many families begin again from where they started.
The community holds one great asset: it cooperates. Households share, villages turn out for shared work, and the diaspora carries its relatives. What is missing is not willingness — it is planning and coordination.
The hardest problems
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Water
Long journeys to fetch it, broken wells, and dependence on trucked supply.
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Education
Too few classrooms, teachers who do not stay, and girls who leave school first.
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Health
Clinics far away — most dangerously for a woman in labour.
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Drought
Herds lost, grazing gone, and families set back year after year.
The diaspora
The diaspora is a backbone. It supports its families every single month. The Office wants a share of that generosity pooled into complete projects that serve a whole village — with a clear account of where the money went.