By Marcus Prior

WFP Security Officer Mohamed Hussein Mohamed has never been scared of walking into the unknown. As soon as he was able to walk, his mother would frequently run frantically around their village, wondering where her little boy had disappeared to.

He was always found safe and well. He’d just gone exploring. Which is why his grandfather nicknamed him ‘Saaniyow’ – the Explorer – a name he still goes by at the age of 38.

Saaniyow’s readiness to head into hostile, risky areas have made him a vital asset to WFP’s critical mission in Somalia, where 2.4 million people are being targeted for food assistance from WFP in one of the most dangerous parts of the planet. At a time of intensified conflict, rising food prices and devastating drought, it’s people like Saaniyow who allow WFP to keep working, while other organisations are forced to scale down or even pull out completely.

WFP has to keep working – millions now rely on food assistance simply to survive day-to-day. The key to keeping operations safe, staff unhurt and property in one piece is building relationships with the local community.

“Sometimes I visit areas where I am not familiar with the people there,” Saaniyow says. “The first time you go you need to introduce yourself politely with kind words, and by the second visit they know who you are and welcome you. You spend time with them, drink tea with them. The local chairman, elder or chief is aware of everything that happens in the area and when you are around. He will advise you on security in his area. He may even provide his own guards for you.

“Your manner of conduct is vital – you need to be respectful, polite and flexible. Rudeness will not get you anywhere. If they see you as a problem or a threat, they will ask you to stay far away from them. Despite all the problems, there is still a grass roots local administrative infrastructure that you can deal with. If you go through the system, people will respect you.”

Saaniyow reckons that ninety percent of the time, he is received positively, largely on the strength of WFP’s reputation for delivering vitally needed supplies at crucial times. The biggest headache he faces are freelance militias who answer to nobody and who have been responsible for a number of attacks on WFP convoys and distribution sites in recent months. A key part of his job is doing security risk assessments at distribution sites ahead of time, during which he seeks certain guarantees from the local community and reports back on whether WFP should go ahead as planned or hold off for a while.

In a country as unpredictable as Somalia, he frequently has to think on his feet, weighing up conflicting information and digging deeper to establish the truth.

“There is a village which has become hectic recently – some of the people have been telling us not to bring food and that if we do they will create problems. Sometimes they make it very clear – I get sms messages telling me that I am not wanted in a particular area.

“But you get different messages from different people in the same village. Others say bring the food, there will be no problems and no one will touch you. Others say they don’t know what will happen. It’s my job to go into these areas without any other WFP staff and make an assessment of the situation.

“In fact, in this case the people who threatened me apologised and we were able to consult with the elders and get food to the people who really needed it.”

Saaniyow spent much of his childhood in Kenya and gained most of his education there, where he learned to speak English fluently. He chose to head back to Somalia because he wanted to be ‘at home’, and is now married with four daughters under the age of eight. It’s more than enough to make him very aware of the dangers he faces almost very day as he does his job.

“Sometimes you do feel the fear of the job – there are times when you are working in really dangerous places and you can’t say you are not afraid. If the food arrives late, for example, it can create dangerous situations as people get angry and you need to get out of an area very quickly. You can’t say that nothing will happen to you – there will be incidents.”

Saaniyow’s Somalia has known little but conflict for nearly 20 years, but despite everything he’s been through and the violence and suffering he continues to see as he goes about his work for WFP, he remains quietly optimistic.

“If you look at the situation for now from one way, you might think that there is not any hope for the future, but God is here – we trust Him. We hope and we pray for a peaceful settlement in the future,” he says.

Then pauses, and finishes, “Insh’allah.”