Digaale Blueprint: Climate Solutions for the Displaced
Summary
In 2025, Alight committed to advancing climate-adaptive urban planning for displaced communities through the development of a new integrated model in the Digaale settlement of Somaliland. By 2027, Alight will construct 500 community-designed homes and establish the Digaale Water Cooperative (DWC) , a resident-led public-private entity that will oversee a newly constructed 10-kilometer water pipeline connecting Digaale to the city of Hargeisa. The DWC will engage individuals active in the informal water economy and provide training in operations, financial planning, and water system management, transforming humanitarian aid into startup capital for community-owned solutions. Building on more than a decade of experience in water access and climate resilience across the Horn of Africa, Alight will partner with the Hargeisa Local Council, local engineers, architects, and community leaders to empower community-driven initiatives and ensure full social and economic integration with broader urban infrastructure.
Approach
Alight is a global organization that co-creates solutions with people who have been displaced, and integrates human-centered design principles into its program methodology.
Alight brings over a decade of technical expertise in water access and climate resilience. Since 2013, the organization has implemented drought-response interventions across the Horn of Africa and specializes in building dignified, community-owned systems in displacement-affected areas.
A key partner in this work, the Hargeisa Local Council, provides leadership on land use planning, regulatory alignment, and integration with broader city infrastructure. Local engineers, architects, and community leaders will co-lead the design, implementation, and long-term management of the initiative.
Digaale Blueprint is a partnership between Alight and the Hargeisa Local Council to reimagine the future of Digaale through sustainable, inclusive urban development. In the first phase, 400 durable homes will be constructed and access to water and sanitation services will be expanded. Future ambitions include building schools, clinics, and marketplaces to provide a holistic community solution.
During the initial design phase, Alight co-created an integrated urban development model for climate-displaced communities – beginning with residents of the Digaale settlement. All elements of the new home designs were informed by early feedback sessions that included voices from both male and female residents across age groups.
In addition to the 500-unit home construction project, a cornerstone of this commitment is the creation of the Digaale Water Cooperative (DWC) , a public-private entity that will oversee a newly constructed 10-kilometer water pipeline connecting the City of Hargeisa to the Digaale settlement. The cooperative will be resident-led, engaging individuals already active in the informal water economy, and will receive support in business operations, water system management, and financial planning. This innovative approach reimagines humanitarian aid as startup capital for community-driven solutions.
Together, these efforts aim to prove that displaced communities can be central to climate-adaptive urban planning – moving from survival to self-reliance, and from the margins to full social and economic integration.
Action Plan
June 2025, construction will begin on the first 200 climate-resilient homes prioritized for vulnerable households. Additionally, in the summer of 2025, construction will also commence on the 7,500-meter water pressure pipeline connecting Hargeisa to Digaale.
By December 2025, the first phase of housing will be completed, and a second phase of 200 homes will begin.
By May 2026, the full water pipeline will be completed, including household connections and kiosks to serve over 6,000 residents. The water tariff system will be finalized in partnership with the Hargeisa Water Agency.
By July 2026, Alight will complete the final phase of housing and community landscaping. The DWC will undergo advanced training to strengthen system maintenance and revenue management. Additionally, the water infrastructure will extend to a new cooperative-managed farm by this timeframe.
July 2026, Alight will measure quarterly impact through household-level data, publishing a replication guide, and hosting a convening to support regional scale. Full ownership will then be transitioned to community and city partners.
Digaale Blueprint will unfold over an 18-month period, beginning with land use planning and plot allocation for 400 homes in close collaboration with the Hargeisa Local Council. Simultaneously, the Digaale Water Cooperative (DWC) will be formalized, with elected leaders beginning training in cooperative governance and financial management.
Background
Due to prolonged drought and climate-related famine, more than 36 million people across Somalia and Somaliland have been affected. Hargeisa now hosts over 100,000 displaced individuals, many of whom reside in 18 informal settlements. Digaale is one of the most impacted informal settlements, initially designed for 800 households but now shelters over 1,500 families (OCHA, April 2021) .
These displaced communities have lost their homes, livelihoods, and loved ones. Most arrive with no resources after walking long distances with limited food and water. Women and children often arrive first, with men joining later after losing livestock to drought. Their rural skills, such as herding and farming, do not translate easily to urban environments. As a result, they remain marginalized from the city’s economy and services.
Digaale is not connected to the main roads, piped water systems, or urban markets, making integration into Hargeisa life extremely difficult.
Digaale Blueprint addresses the urgent and growing challenges facing internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland.
By placing displaced people at the center of planning, Digaale Blueprint presents a new model of climate-adaptive development. It aims to restore dignity, enable integration, and build a scalable model for social and economic resilience in East Africa.
Progress Update
Partnership Opportunities
To realize and scale this commitment, Alight is actively seeking catalytic funding, implementation partners, and technical advisors. Priority areas include urban planning, housing design, public health, sustainable infrastructure, and cooperative governance. Alight welcomes collaboration with organizations experienced in climate adaptation to ensure holistic, systems-level impact.
The organization is also seeking media and storytelling partners to help elevate the voices of displaced residents – positioning them as heroes of their own stories – and to amplify replicable models emerging from the Digaale Blueprint.
Strategic partnerships with government liaisons and local institutions are essential for long-term integration into urban systems. Alight invites collaboration that bridges community-led solutions with policy influence.
Additionally, Alight aims to engage the private sector as a key contributor to this climate-adaptive housing solution, through both financial investment and in-kind product support that advances the project’s design, sustainability, and scale.,Alight brings deep expertise in community-led design and water system development in displacement-affected settings. As part of this commitment, the organization will share technical guidance, implementation playbooks, and key lessons from the Digaale Blueprint to support replication in similar contexts.
Alight invites partners to join a growing community of practice dedicated to co-creating durable and dignified solutions for climate-displaced populations. Through convenings, site visits, and peer exchange, Alight will offer access to design templates, cooperative governance models, and public-private partnership frameworks. The goal is to accelerate shared learning and scale integrated, people-centered approaches across the region and beyond.