Somaliland youth violence and youth role role in peacebuilding: Baseline survey

This report seeks to understand the perceptions young people have about trends in youth violence in Somaliland, including extent, actors and causes. It also seeks to lay a foundation for youth empowerment by asking youth what is needed to improve their ability to play a positive role in society. This information will feed into a roadmap for youth empowerment in Somaliland, which will be overseen by SONYO and other key stakeholders.

Puntland Nabad Ah: Astaynta Horumarka

Qoraalkani waa natiijada cilmibaaris sannad qaadatay oo lagu soo ogaanayey caqabadaha iyo fursadaha ka jira arrimaha la xiriira dimuqraadiyaynta, baahinta maamulka iyo amniga iyo sarraynta sharciga. Waxa lagu fuliyey Barnaamijka Tiirarka Nabadda wajigeeda 2aad, kaas oo ay si wada jir ah isaga kaashadeen hay’daha PDRC iyo Interpeace oo sannado badan ku bahoobey horumarinta nabadda iyo baritaarka dimuqraadiyadda.

Peace in Puntland: Mapping the progress

This report is the product of a yearlong research on the challenges, opportunities and prospect of demoratization, decentralization and security and rule of law in Puntland. It was implemented under the Pillars of Peace (PoP II) programme through the joint efforts of PDRC and Interpeace, who have been partners in supporting peace-and-statebuilding processes in the Somali region over the years.

Reopening the Gaale-Maale road: Youths take the lead in resolving a five-year conflict in Puntland

Warsan Abdillahi Abdi was driving along the Gaale Maale road in Puntland with her cousin and her best friend. As they trundled their way down the road, gunmen suddenly appeared from the bushes, lined the road and began to shoot at her car. Amidst the chaos and shooting, Warsan lost both her cousin and her friend, and watched the gunmen proceed to shoot and kill five others in another car that was driving on the same road.

Although several years have gone by, Warsan still bears scars from the attack. She still carries the pain inflicted by a number of bullets that remain lodged in her lower calf. She also suffers nightmares and sometimes lapses into psychological trauma when she recalls the incident.

The Gaale Maale road forms an important link between the communities of Rako and Humbays in Puntland. For five years however, a feud between the Ali Saleeban clan mainly from Rako district and the Musa Saleeban clan from Humbays, made the 30-kilometre road inaccessible. The feud began due to a disagreement over grazing lands. Over time the feud escalated and young gunmen from both sides made the Gaale Maale road unusable for travellers, strewing it with branches and tree stumps to render it completely impassable.

During this period travelling by road from Rako to Humbays was unreliable and very insecure. Not until a number of youth peace activists decided to pursue a truce was there any change in the situation.

Youth lay the path to peace

The youths initially met through the Rako reconciliation process, supported by Interpeace and its partner in Puntland, the Puntland Development Research Center (PDRC). After engaging in unilateral outreach awareness campaigns on peace, with facilitation and support from PDRC, the youths decided to meet and take action together. They began to hold meetings and to discuss ways of ending the violent standoff between the two clans, which they realized impacted them the most.

“We felt that we could no longer stand on the sidelines and watch our youth, from both sides, become the most affected victims in this conflict,” said Mohamed Saeed Arabay, Chairman of the joint Youth Peace Group that they formed.

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Youth of both clans eat together in mixed groups organized by facilitators. Photo credit: PDRC

With the help of PDRC’s Mobile Audio-Visual Unit (MAVU), the youth representatives of the two clans organized a more substantial series of meetings, the first of which was a film screening and discussion event at the port city of Bossaso, which provided a neutral ground.

MAVU is a way of connecting people in isolated rural communities – including youth, women and minorities – with each other and with decision-makers using mobile cinema. It works by filming a community’s views and screening the film to members of a rival community. These screening are held back and forth between the two communities until they have identified enough common ground to meet in person.

The many interviews captured by the MAVU videos and shared with the two clans proved very useful for this effort. The youths watched as community members from both Rako and Humbays stressed the negative consequences of the prolonged conflict, citing the large number of lives lost, the constant fear of reprisal attack and destruction of property.

Mahado Abdisalin Yusuf, a resident of Humbays told of how the traditional spirit of sharing between the two communities had begun to break down. “There is a borehole here in Humbays, but it belongs to a man from Rako,” he said in one video. “As you can see, it has been covered with branches so we cannot draw water from it.”

The Government of Puntland took note of the youth activists’ efforts and began to support their quest for a peaceful rapprochement between the two clans. A peace process, partly facilitated by the Vice President of Puntland, helped to bring the two communities together, and at the end of March 2015 a peace agreement was signed. This brought the five-year conflict to an end and allowed the Gaale Maale road to be re-opened.

Strengthening peace

Following the signing of the peace agreement, the youth activists continued to bring the communities of Rako and Humbays closer together. They organized a soccer match, facilitated by PDRC’s MAVU unit, in cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports and attended by both the Minister and his Director General. The two opposing teams had a mix of youth from both Rako and Humbays to prevent the emergence of a competitive game of “us versus them”.

The two teams were named “Unity,” and “Peace”.

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A captivating moment during the peace game. Photo credit: PDRC

A luncheon was also held to honour the youth for driving the re-establishment of peaceful relations between the people of Rako and Humbays.

Sirad Khalad Ali, a poet revered for her prowess in easing tensions through spoken word, was also a victim of the conflict. She lost her husband and had to bury 11 members of her family in a single day. But at the luncheon organized by MAVU she shared poems of praise for the courageous youths whose effort halted the five-year cycle of violence.

Abdinasir Mohamed Yusuf, lead researcher of MAVU, lauded the role played by the youth in resolving the conflict between the two communities.

“This time, the youth and women were not the marginalized group. They were right at the forefront of the peace effort, and we merely provided technical, logistical and financial support,” Yusuf remarked. “Their courage made this possible, and the reopening of the Gaale-Maale road is a powerful indication of the renewed peace and cooperation between the two communities.”

Somaliland's progress towards peace: Mapping the community perspective

The Academy for Peace and Development (APD) is proud to present its Pillar Note – the central document of its Pillars of Peace II programme. The pillar note brings together the findings of an extensive mapping exercise carried out across Somaliland by APD at the end of 2013.

Somaliland holds land reform conference

In the 24 years since its withdrawal from its union with Somalia in 1991, Somaliland has progressively developed into one of the most stable areas within the territory of the former Somali Republic. Although lacking international recognition as a sovereign state, Somaliland has developed a working political system, stable government institutions and a functional economy.

Land-based conflicts constitute one of the greatest threats to peace

Despite this relative peace and stability, there are still many challenges facing Somaliland in its statebuilding, social cohesion and development aspirations. One area that requires urgent attention is the growing number of resource-based conflicts, especially those over land. A 2013 study carried out by Interpeace’s partner organization, the Academy for Peace and Development (APD), indicated that land-based conflicts now constitute one of the greatest threats to peace in Somaliland. The study, carried out across Somaliland, established that an increasing number of violent conflicts in both urban and rural parts of Somaliland are rooted in individual and clan disputes over land ownership and use.

First ever national conference on land reform

It was in an effort to address the pressing issue of land conflict that APD organized Somaliland’s first ever National Conference on Land Reform on 21-22 April 2015. The objective of the conference - organized under APD’s Pillars of Peace Programme in partnership with Interpeace - was to bridge the gap between policy-makers and local communities and articulate a plan to establish effective land management mechanisms. An estimated 300 delegates, representing all sectors of the society, attended the conference, held over two days in the city of Burao. Among them were 11 ministers; all the governors of the regions of Somaliland; eminent traditional and religious leaders; mayors from various cities; representatives of youth and women’s organizations; local and international NGOs and other civil society groups; and representatives of international organizations.

Development of a draft roadmap on land reform

Following opening speeches and an evocative film on land conflict, participants were organized into four main working groups. The ministers and others with technical knowledge focused on elaborating a draft roadmap drawn up by APD to help the stakeholders navigate the various pertinent aspects of land reform. The other groups brainstormed on a more general vision for a successful land management policy, discussing the current challenge of land conflict and making recommendations for long term resolution. After the exercise, each group presented its recommendations, and the ideas gathered were grouped into short-term and medium/long-term recommendations. These were then integrated into the draft roadmap, which the government ministers took time to revisit and approve.

Regional consultations involved stakeholders across Somaliland

In the months prior to the National Conference, through participatory action research (PAR), APD organized a series of consultation workshops to seek input from stakeholders in all the administrative regions of Somaliland. The regional consultation workshops involved the participation of 480 people - 100 each in Hargeisa and Burao, and 70 each in Borama, Berbera, Las-Anod and Erigavo. In March 2015, APD also held high-level consultations in Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa, with government and other key stakeholders, among them the relevant ministries and parliamentary committees, non-governmental groups and inter-governmental bodies such as UN-Habitatla UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) et Rift Valley Institute (RVI).

Next steps towards land reform

With the success of the land reform conference and earlier consultations, the government and other stakeholders now have a strong foundation from which to pursue better land management. Next steps in the process include the articulation of a presidential decree; development of a National Land Policy, with effective land administration and conflict resolution structures; as well as elaboration of a fully integrated system of laws that govern all aspects of land management and use. APD will continue to help support and guide this process. The overwhelming support for the process thus far demonstrates a perceptible desire by Somaliland society and government to play their part to improve land management, and in so doing strengthen social harmony in Somaliland.

Click here to read APD’s official report of the land reform conference.