Baidoa, Somalia (Onkod Radio) Somalia’s South West State plans to adopt policies to accelerate urban development amid the town is already curbing the internally displaced people due to severe droughts that hit the country, officials said.

The Council of Ministers of South West State in Somalia convened a high-level meeting to review the region’s current situation including security, infrastructure development, and the delivery of social services.

The Council approved two policy frameworks developed by the Ministry of Public Works: a Housing Policy and a Building Permit Policy.

These measures are aimed to strengthen urban planning systems, improve construction standards, and create a more efficient and transparent building permit process.

The Council emphasized that effective implementation of these policies will be essential to accelerating urban development and enhancing the overall quality and appearance of cities across South West State.

The measure comes amid the city is hosting over 500,000 internally displaced refugees as a result of the severe droughts that hit the country.