Somalia: Education and MDGs

Somalia Past, Present,and Future

For the past 15 years, Somalia has been without effective government. Difficult conditions in the country have been further exacerbated by internal conflict, disease, famine, and natural disasters. Despite the resilience of local communities and businesses, the instability has led to severe underdevelopment of economic, social, and human resources.

Until 1991, modern public education was offered free at all levels. After the collapse of the Somali state, nationally-owned educational facilities closed down and almost all educational materials and equipment were looted. There was no public financing for education, and teachers and administrators went unpaid. Higher education programs also ceased to function.

This has seriously hindered opportunities for Somali people to receive the education necessary to enhance themselves personally and increase state prosperity. Two years ago, a large number of Somali women were recruited into the journalism program at Puntland State University. Unfortunately, almost all of the women dropped out because they could not afford tuition.

As journalists play a key role in helping to hold governments accountable, this situation has attracted the attention of the United Nations and its partners including the African Virtual University, who are working with Somalis to build the foundations for the future of Somalia.

Educating Women to Reduce Poverty

Poverty has a woman's face. Global prosperity and peace will only be achieved once all of the world's people are empowered to provide for themselves, their families, and eventually their surrounding community. Societies where women are more equal stand a much greater chance of achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. All MDGs are directly related to women's rights, as societies where women are not afforded equal rights as men find it more difficult to achieve sustainable development. When women are given the chance to succeed through increased educational opportunities and small business possibilities, families and economies become stronger, and societies start flourishing. Supporting the Somali Women’s Scholarship Fund will provide these women with the knowledge to empower themselves and help their country achieve sustainable development for generations to come.

Through the valley of death, caught in the conflict in Somalia: A personal tragedy By Mohamed Yasin Mohamed—Somaliland

Shamis Aadan Cabdi is a textbook case of the human toll on the conflict in Somalia during the struggle against the Siad Barre’s regime. Born in 1963 in Hargeisa Shamis completed her secondary school at the age of 18. Her plans to go to the university were thwarted when she was forced to marry her father’s best friend. He worked in Hargeisa as a teacher but after he married Shamis he resigned his job and became a businessman with the help of his brother who was in Saudi Arabia. Within a few years they were rich. Her husband built ten three-story houses. He also deposited large sums of money in the bank. But in May 1988 all seemed to come to an end. Hargeisa was the scene of heavy fighting. Thousands of people all ages fled the city. Shamis and her four children were also forced to flee to the bush in north east Hargeisa.

Joining 12 other fleeing families Shamis and her family walked towards Berbera, about 190 kilometers away. “All along we saw may people, especially children and elderly people, dead. We had no food except dates and a can of water which we replenished whenever possible,” Shamis said. When they reached Berbera they continued their trip to the town of Erigavo. The journey, this time by truck, took three days. “When we arrived my relatives welcomed us warmly. Everybody asked me where my husband was. I could not answer because he was not in the house when we fled. We thought he had been killed in town...”

Later she received the message that her husband was alive. He had been in Hargeisa where he said he had spent 20 days looking for them while trying to shelter from the fighting. But he eventually fled to Mogadishu where his relatives and friends asked him about his wife and family. They, too, had presumed she and the children were killed in the fighting. For Shamis and her family war came to her home when, one night, ten young men broke into her house and, killed two of her children, her husband as well as two of her husband’s brothers. “The next morning I took my remaining two children and together with my sister we started to run again. There was fighting everywhere. We continued until we crossed the border into Kenya.” she said But they were detained at the border for nearly 40 days. She said the Kenyan police were cruel to the Somali refugees. After 40 days of misery, she said she recognized one of the policemen. “He had pity on us, gave us food and finally helped us to go back under escort to Hargeisa.”

Shamis now sells tea and sometimes charcoal to earn an income. “That is enough talk about my miserable situation. It is not words that can change my life But life’s improvement in my country is needed."

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