# Waheen Reconstruction Began with Assessment: The April 2022 Technical Mission

> United Nations in Somalia reported on 9 April 2022 that an inter-agency team of technical experts deployed to assess Waheen market fire damage.

- By: Editorial Team, Somali Construction Review (https://somaliconstructionreview.com/about)
- Published: 20 September 2026
- Format: News story (reported from one named public source)
- Publication: Somali Construction Review (https://somaliconstructionreview.com)
- Subject: Engineering and Methods
- Place: Somaliland
- Tags: somaliland, market-reconstruction, fire-safety
- Web version: https://somaliconstructionreview.com/blog/waheen-reconstruction-began-with-assessment-the-april-2022-technical

## Key points

- United Nations in Somalia reported on 9 April 2022 that an inter-agency team of technical experts deployed to Hargeisa to assess Waheen market fire damage and support rebuilding plans.
- The same report said Somaliland's response committee put preliminary total losses at between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, and that a joint assessment report was to be finalised for a donor meeting in Nairobi.
- The report does not establish the ignition cause or assign contractor responsibility, and its loss figures were preliminary at that date.

United Nations in Somalia reported on 9 April 2022 that an inter-agency team of technical experts had deployed to Hargeisa to assess the damage from the Waheen market fire and to support planning for the marketplace's rebuilding. The report followed a week after the blaze destroyed the market, and it drew on interviews and a site visit by team members.

## What the source records

[United Nations in Somalia](https://somalia.un.org/en/177260-un-inter-agency-team-support-hargeisa-fire-response-needs-assessment) reported that the team included staff from nine UN agencies, funds and programmes, and that the team leader was Jacqueline Saline Olweya, the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative for Somalia. The report said the Waheen market covered five square kilometres, held an estimated 5,000 businesses, and that Somaliland's response committee gave preliminary loss estimates of between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. It also said the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture estimated the fire accounted for 40 to 50 per cent of the city's economy, and that a joint assessment report would be finalised for a donor meeting in Nairobi the following week.

## What it means on site

A damage assessment sets the scope that later design, bills of quantities and contractor tenders are built on, so the sequence matters. The report describes experts covering environmental, legal, communication, socio-economic and health issues working with the response committee. For anyone hoping to price or plan work in the market, the practical question is what the final assessment recorded, plot by plot: extents, remaining structures, services and access. That document, not the news item, is what a scope can be measured against.

## What the source does not establish

The report does not establish the ignition cause, does not assign responsibility to any contractor, and its loss totals were preliminary. It is dated 9 April 2022 and describes a team deployed "earlier this week"; it does not give the final assessment's contents, does not confirm the Nairobi donor meeting took place, and does not describe the market's present condition. Nothing here should be read as a statement about what now stands on the site. A copy of the finalised joint assessment report would confirm what was recorded.

## What to do next

Request the finalised joint assessment report from the office that holds it: Somaliland's response committee for the market, or the UN agency that led the assessment. Ask for the site and damage record for the specific plot, since that is the document a scope, design or tender can be checked against.

> **Note:** The $1.5 billion to $2 billion range and the 40 to 50 per cent economy figure come from the 9 April 2022 report and were described there as preliminary. Treat them as that date's estimates, not current figures.

## Questions

### Did the April 2022 UN mission decide what would be rebuilt at Waheen market?

No. The report describes a team deployed to assess damage and support recovery planning with the government and the response committee. It says the joint assessment report would be finalised in the following days and used at a donor meeting in Nairobi; it does not record any reconstruction decision or scope.

### Does the report give the cause of the Waheen fire?

No. The 9 April 2022 report does not establish the ignition cause and does not assign contractor responsibility. It records the deployment, the site visit, interviews with business owners, meetings with ministers, and preliminary loss estimates.

## Sources

- [Waheen market fire assessment](https://somalia.un.org/en/177260-un-inter-agency-team-support-hargeisa-fire-response-needs-assessment) — United Nations in Somalia, 2022-04-09 (Site reporting and interviews; opening interviews; UN team deployed; site visit.)