NCF Somali

Conference Report

Session One: Opening Ceremony

Moderator: Abdi Baffo

Speakers: Dr. Haider, Abdi Baffo, Dr. Axel Harneit-Sievers, Oscar Mwangi

Dr. Abdullahi Haider in his brief remarks welcomed everyone to the 4^th NCF conference and called upon the Chair of the NCF Board of Directors, Mr. Abdi Baffo to say something on the conference programme.

Baffo welcomed participants to the conference and thanked them for accepting NCF’s invitation. He recognized how busy each participant is but yet came all the way to attend the conference.

He gave a brief history of NCF and Stated that NCF was born out of a conference held in 2004 in Nairobi where intellectuals discussed among other things peace and how to establish social and economic programs.  At that the conference, they decided to continue to meeting and eventually form an organization.

In 2005, NCF members debated and formulated a constitution, creating the post of executive director and steering committees. Follow up conferences were held   in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009. NCF is registered in Kenya and USA and has 32 members who reside inside Somalia, Europe and North America. To become a member, one has to pay a fee of $ 100 for members who are residing in Africa and $ 200 for members residing in Europe and North America. Only members are allowed to participate in the NCF’s annual conference and NCF working hard to recruit new members in Kenya and Somalia. Baffo stated that NCF is an open organization and encouraged those present to visit the organization website and for the non members to join the organization

 

The chair thanked Dr. Axel Sievers, the Executive Director of HBF for the support his organization had accorded NCF, being its main donor. He observed that the NCF has a 3 year program funded by European Union (EU) through HBF enabling the organization to hold forums and annual general meetings. He pointed out that there are number of Somali organization, some that did not survive with the challenges of relying on emails.  NCF annual conferences have enhanced close contacts with the people and its members.  NCF’s members include Somali intellectuals with vast and rich experiences and urged more to join the organization to help in accomplishing the work ahead.

The theme of the conference was   the need to seek for an alternative vision, the duty every  Somali has towards their country. The current political issues in Somalia, the role of Civil Society in peace building and state building were to be discussed during the conference. The intellectuals recognize that they can contribute to their country [Somalia] and they can take this message to the public. They have to encourage all Somalis to take up their roles and be part of the solutions.

Dr. Axel Harneit-Sievers, Director of HBF East and Horn of Africa

He welcomed everyone to the conference and spoke on behalf of HBF. He noted that this conference provided him with the opportunity to meet a large number and important Somali intellectuals and professionals from Diaspora. He reminded the participants that the conference offers them the opportunity to establish relationships and understand Somalia’s problems and most of all to build Somali perspectives. He encouraged the participants to debate and reflect on the current issues and come up with ways to improve the situation in Somalia. He acknowledged that some people were frustrated by the lack of progress in Somalia but observed their capacity to bring positive changes that will impact on Somalia.

He encouraged participants to try new ideas and urged them to discuss the current political situation to come up with Somali solutions instead of counting on the government to contribute to everything as the role of NCF is critical.

NCF is supported by EU through HBF in a project that will end in 2011 and involve; annual conferences, public debates, engagement with the media and regular evaluation of NCF work. This evaluation brought positive results on their activities and NCF should explore other funding opportunities. He thanked the management of NCF for organizing this event and noted that there are criticisms, which are good on how to continue working. NCF should take greater steps linking up with other CS actors to impact on South Central Somalia. There are different ways of doing things: using the media, being active and collaborations with effective institutions, monitor different conditions in Mogadishu.

He asked members to take time and take stock of NCF performance and also think strategically on how to make NCF more visible urging it to be more aggressive. He commended the close working relationship between HBF and NCF staff.  He was optimistic that positive things will come out of the conference.

Dr. Axel-Sievers disclosed that he will be leaving Nairobi office for India office and that this was his last opportunity to meet Somalis gathering in such a forum. His successor is Catherine Siegel who has worked at HBF office in Cambodia and she will take over in April 2011. Dr. Axel noted that he enjoyed having Somali connections in Nairobi though he never visited Mogadishu. However he travelled to Somaliland and said that it is not different from what used to be in Somalia – positive experience. He wished the participants a constructive debate and thanked them for being part of that conference.

Oscar Mwangi from UNDP-Somalia office

Oscar works under governance programme and he is working with NCF on the Civil Society Linkage and Somalia Constitution Making Support projects. He convoyed greetings from his manager Mr. Philip Cooper who was on holiday at the time of NCF’s conference. Mr. Mwangi stated that it was his first time as well as for the UNDP to attend such a forum organized by civics, intellectuals and professionals. He hoped that UNDP’s partnership with NCF would  grow stronger. He encouraged NCF to hold its next meeting in Mogadishu so that he would get the opportunity to visit Mogadishu.

Session Two: Somali Diaspora

Moderator: Asha Kin

Presenters:  Ibrahim Abikar, Hassan Dahir Arab

A self introduction of participants who were mostly from Europe, North America, Kenya and Somalia was done. They included members of civil society, business group, academics and activists.

In this session ground rules were collectively formulated to govern the conference as follows:

1. Recite Quran while opening  each session;
2. Respecting people’s views;
3. Time – punctuality and make it brief when asking questions or giving comments;
4. No side-talking (yaan la iska dhinac hadlin);
5. Listening carefully;
6. Focus on the subject;
7. Avoid self repetition;

Ibrahim Abikar: Missing Somali Youth: Victims or Villain?

Lesson learned? How can we transfer those victims and make them productive citizens of USA and Somalia?

In his paper, Ibrahim noted that the Somali immigration started way before 1990s. However the Somali State collapse in 1990s facilitated the massive influx. In 1980s, Somali elites left Somalia which led to brain drain; those who had the money left the country. The mass exodus began in 1990s, IDPs moved to places where they could get protection in their clan territories. Where others crossed international borders and became refugees in neighboring countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti. Some of those refugees ended up in Minnesotta, a place where they can raise their families peacefully and it was easy for Somalis to get jobs as they did not need to be fluent in English to get jobs. The safety nets, welfare system, employment and communal livings attracted the Somalis to Minnesota. Immigrants settle in poor areas and Somalis are part of this group where they face new challenges including racism. For example, in July 2010, there was graffiti written on a Somali shop “Go home”, a hate crime which is a minor nuisance compared to what other earlier immigrants such as Jewish and Italians experienced.

In 2007, 20 Somali youth went missing which the media highlighted and their parents knew about it but the larger community didn’t. FBI started its investigation on this issue and this has led to panic, shock, confusion, denial and overall affected the psyche of the people. The boys started blaming the warring   groups as FBI began what is called racial-profiling. Somalis felt that they were racially profiled due to their ethnicity and religion, some members of the Somali community blamed the Abubakar Mosque and no one was charged.

Question: how did they manage to escape from the radar of their parents? What sources did they use to travel to Somalia? What made them to go back to Somalia? What message did they hear and from whom? Why didn’t the community know about it? Those youths transited through Kenya, they were young and came from single headed households, absent fathers, divorced parents.

There are also generation gaps, education gaps and communication breakdown between parents and their children.  Parents want to hold on to their tradition while the children want to go out of the homes and experience pear pressure. They take their new American lifestyle and are pressured to adopt American lifestyle (there are push and pull factors). The children experience confusion and begin to ask questions such as who am I? Shall I follow my parents’ culture or adopt American way of life / lifestyle?

There was a research carried out by Dr. Ken Menkhaus with Somali youth and they were asked to self-identify [who are you?]. Some of the youth who participated in that research identified themselves as Somali-American, others – Muslim-Somali-American. In other words, Somali-American youth responded to this question differently (yet they live in the same city). There is a paradigm shift,  Somali-American youth are seeking cultural identity elsewhere – Somalia, they [youth] are looking for answers elsewhere and this needs to be addressed and investigated.

The presence of Somalis is changing the educational institution in Minnesotta, there are 93 schools where the primary language is Somali. Recent statistics indicated that 82 percent graduates were white, 60 percent were Asians, 43.9 percent Blacks – Somalis included. Dropout rates in Minnesotta were as follows: 3.6 percent were whites, Asian / Pacific Island 5.6 percent, 10.9 percent are blacks (double of Asians and triple of white). The question is how to close such gap? Deficits (budget-cuts), accounting shifts, delaying resources for another fiscal year, problems – to help Somalis to achieve higher education.

Somali youth have become soft targets for illegal activities such as drugs, terrorism. There was a recent report on Somali youth which indicated that there 3 organized gangs  each with  52 members namely Rough Tough Somalis, Hot Gangs, Somali Mafia, Somali Outlaws and the Lady Outlaws. There is also the issue of sex-trafficking and the involvement of Somali youth which is still being investigated.

There are about 40-50 community organizations and also faith-based organizations in one State. Do we actually need such numbers? They are clan-based organizations some of which don’t get grants from the government while some exist by name and have no activities. Faith-based organizations mirror the community organizations, they are divided based on sects and are affiliated with certain mosques, for example, Al-Itihad, Sufism and compete for members. If a youth attended certain mosques, there’s somebody telling him that you do not go to that mosque and that perpetuates the cultural confusion and identity crisis which the youth are experiencing already.

Recommendations:

From his argument, the visible roles of Somali civil society is missing, they are not organized although the government has to authorize for one to function as Civil Society. First, there is a need for articulate meaningful messages from the youth, no presence of diaspora organization, and no efforts are made to educate the youth about their civic duties. Second, there are no Somali conferences on Somali issues. Civil society need to advocate for and resurrect national pride and invest in Somali youth.

Third, there is need of grassroots mobilization, there have been 15 attempts to build peace but they all failed thus Civil Society has that responsibility to take the nation to a different path. The previous attempts did not work, for example, in 2006, the CS in the diaspora organized conferences in Europe, North America condemning the Ethiopian occupation in Somalia. They failed to maintain that momentum and when Ethiopia withdrew its troops, the Somali CS in the diaspora became dormant. The youth must be provided some space and they need to be assisted to be vigilant and contribute to their adopted country and Somalia. Somalis are often defined by others ‘experts’,  It is the role of CS to define who the Somalis are.

Viable communication is also needed so that the youth can learn from Somali experts, this can be made possible by use of emails, Facebook, Twitter to communicate to the youth. The community needs to accommodate the needs of its youth and must adopt a language which they can understand. The youth must be encouraged to do volunteer and internship in Somalia and this will provide them the chance to learn more of their heritage, language and culture and such exposure may change their mindset and attitudes.

The American citizen who blew himself up in Somalia was of Somali origin and this became the first in the US history. “The only mistake is that we don’t learn from it” John Howard - British.

Hassan Dahir Arab: Tertiary Education and meeting the Needs of the Somali Youth”.

In the presentation, Arab noted that Somali Research and Education Network (SREN) is a member of Ubuntu Net alliance, an affiliate of the Association of African Universities and will soon to be a member of the United-University Council of East Africa (UCCEA). It is financially supported by the EU, the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. It has 9 universities as participants, governed by council of members. Since 1997, there are more than 30 universities launched in Somaliland, Puntland, and South and Central region of Somalia, Galgadud, Bakol, Middle Shabelle and Middle Juba are the only 4 out of the 18 regions that are yet to establish universities.

Why so many universities in Somalia? They are NGO-driven, community-driven including diaspora and business driven. Total of 30,000 undergraduate students attend those universities and they offer more than 20 disciplines ranging from medical, engineering, educations, mass communication and Business Administration. Almost 1500 employees work in these universities the tuition range from $ 200 to 900 per semester with a teacher - Student ratio of 1:50. There is no single university that provides free education to Somali youth and only 20 percent of youth can afford to pursue higher education, two percent of the youth benefit from donor-driven vocational schools mainly in Puntland and Somaliland while 73 percent of youth have no opportunity to attend university which leads to massive migration of the youth.

Where do graduates of these universities go? 25 percent get employment in the private sector and 18 percent establish their own businesses.

Recommendation

Solutions for educated and employed, un-educated and unemployment youth:

• For educated and employed youth there is need to sustain their jobs, empower them more order for them to contribute to the society.
• The uneducated youth they need capacity and skills building.
• The unemployed youth need support to bring out their entrepreneurial skills and assist them to start business or help them find employment.

What SREN and its members can and will do:

• Encourage research and development to facilitate the change they want  happen in Somalia;
• Seeking sponsorship opportunities for qualified youth;
• Creating entrepreneurial opportunities for the youth;
• Dissemination of the skills and knowledge that contribute to the rebuilding process.

Discussion and Conclusion

• · Some of the universities are owned by Ethiopia [problematic] because it can lead to cultural colonization.

• · Female enrolment in those universities operating in Somalia is extremely low due to social and economic barriers.

• · Are these universities independent and free from extremist groups?

• · Vocational skill trainings are offered by international organizations in Nairobi. Those skill training projects are not reflective to the specific needs of the people. The participants of those skill-training participate in order to access money and not to gain skills for employment purpose.

• · There is a need to form Somali America Diaspora Educational Network.

• · The youth need to be taught their language and cultural heritage.

• · Somali fathers need to be educated and informed of their parental responsibilities.

• · There is need to have action plans aimed at pacifying peace in Somalia within the next  5 years .

• · Solutions do not lie alone in the Somali diaspora community, there is need for security, the rule of law, a government in Somalia so that diaspora children can return and also to resolve the problems of violence.

• · Identity is crucial for one’s survival and leads to sense of security and a Somali can be Muslim, American, African and black.

• · The problems facing Somalis in the diaspora including Minnesota is universal and affects all other immigrant communities.

Update on the NCF’s activities from December 2009 to December 2010 by Dr. Abdullahi Haider

NCF organized a number of public discussions, forums, debates and consultation on various topics which examined the impact of international aid on the Somali people, Reflection on 50 years of Somali Independence, consultation on existing gaps of the current Constitution, the new Prime Minister including some of the challenges he will encounter and the Consultation Draft Constitution. It also engaged with international local television and radios such as BBC, IRIN, Universal Television to inform and educate the public about its efforts and activities. It also produced bi-annual electronic newsletters. In the area of development and research, NCF sought the support of UNDP Somalia to support  Civil Society Linkage and research on the Consultation Draft Constitution projects, the research  will critically study:

1. The nexus between Sharia and democracy: Questions for Constitution making process in Somalia;
2. Women and Governance in Muslim Societies: Towards a Gender-sensitive constitution in Somalia and Democracy, Islam and Oppression: Making the Constitution in Somalia work for all;
3. Natural Resource Management and Distribution in Somalia, linking the ‘is’ and the ‘ought’;
4. Political structures and participation in the context of the Somali Constitution.

Discussion and Recommendation

NCF was proposed to become bi-focal for Somali diaspora, it was also noted that in last year NCF’s BOD meeting suggested the recruitment of members in USA, Canada and Europe, initiate discussions and document good practices. Dr. Asha Kin noted that they campaigned for the teaching of Somali language in the schools, however, Somali parents do not support that, they had also lobbied the policy-makers.

Session Three: Civil Society Actors

Moderator: Ibrahim Abikar

Presenters: Dr. Abdulkhadir Osman, Dr. Shukria Dini and Ibrahim A. Mohamed

Dr. Abdulkhadir Osman presented a paper titled “The Dynamics of homeland contribution: Somali Diaspora in Denmark and the UAE in Comparative Perspective”. In his presentation, he argued that diaspora studies are not new, Somali diaspora has recently emerged mostly on journalistic and media coverage, but academically, a lot of research and analyses need to be carried out.

There are three schools of thoughts or arguments: a) Diaspora are linked to the homeland (essentialist, evolutionary) – rooted and territorial; b) it is also linked to host land and;   c) Diaspora doesn’t belong or linked to both (neither homeland nor host land)– this creates independent diasporic life (constructive school of thought). He stressed the importance of religion, kinship; moral values and resemblance as factors that lead to social organization. Migration is about survival, live in a dignified life and search for a better life. There are four types of adjustments that diaspora go through.

First, there is the cyclical hegemonic adjustment.  Ibn Khaldum (1377) noted the concept of asabiya – kinship and argued that from there people adopt a kinship not based on genealogy but on loyalty. From ‘badawa’ to ‘hadara’ (sophistication moving away from kinship to reliance on the State and market). In this theory, diaspora are forced to integrate into their host community.

Second, there is linear contractual adjustment, where diaspora go through the stages of kinship solidarity to organic solidarity (more professional, sophisticated- institutional).

Third, discursive hegemonic adjustment, where social relations and solidarity are kept through discourses, power-relations and practice (Foucault 1980). Dialectical processes become more pronounced which can either lead to oppression and resistance, an example is Islamophobia as discursive theory.

Fourth, diaspora adjust, become double conscious (Cohen 2006), hold multiple identities and combine their difference and unity. In other words, diaspora belong to their community and to the mainstream. Transnational and globalization provide opportunities for diaspora communities, due to globalization, identities are not fixed but fluid and diaspora pursue cosmopolitanism and hybridity (see Clifford 1992, Appadurai 1996). Other scholars critiqued globalization and argued that the process of globalization is unequal (see Anthias 1998).

Five, within the fragmented constructing adjustment, there are three structures that impact diaspora community.

First, there is what is called opportunity structure, economic, political and social opportunities in the host country. Second, mobilizing structure, diaspora community mobilize themselves through the formation of association, institutions, media and the internet. Third, diaspora organize themselves through ideas and meanings (framing structure). Some of the Somali diaspora became diaspora without moving and remained stagnant in Ethiopia and Kenya. They can be called as diaspora in the periphery than those who live in the core. There are established and non-established diaspora (struggling diaspora). Somali diaspora in Denmark and UAE are not the same due to their organization.

Denmark is a liberal democratic country with welfare system and this affects diaspora groups.  The opportunities that exist in the host land influence on how diaspora engage with their homeland. In Denmark, kinship / clan is not important – diaspora became free from clan, while in UAE, kinship is very important for survival and finding jobs. Somalis do have double consciousness – hybridity (multiple identities) – they are neither in Somalia nor in their host countries, UAE is closer to Somalia and it is an Islamic country with Islamic values. Diaspora will not return, if it happens, it will be partial return, they need coordination (State), and opportunities. Inter-generational conflict particularly between parents and children is a factor which needs to be addressed and language needs to be maintained as Somalis learn from other diaspora community.

Shukria Dini presented a paper titled “Towards a Gender Inclusive Approach and Tapping into Somali Women’s Resourcefulness”. In this paper, it was argued that when the Somali State collapsed in 1990s and the civil war emerged, like Somali men, women were impacted through disintegration and experienced gender-based violence. Questions which were raised in this presentation were “Why tap into Somali women? Why gender inclusive approach?

Somali women emerged as important actors who have responded effectively to social and economic disintegration. They became the primary income-earners for their families, the crises transformed Somali women and they gained new identities, thinking, confidence and valuable experiences. They rose to the occasion by attending to the immediate needs of war-affected population.  Dini argued that Somali women are resourceful actors and must be included in all of the decision-making in building peace and a new State in war-torn Somalia.

The past peace and State-building processes were top-down, non-inclusive and male dominated which led to their total failure. Dini asserted that capable women must be at the negotiation table when peace is being brokered in order for them to advocate for the inclusion of gender issues when the future of Somalia is being discussed. Somali women constitute 50 percent of the Somalia’s population and cannot be ignored, formal peace and State-building processes need to be inclusive and democratic in order to pave way for gender inclusive post-conflict transformation. Gender awareness and inclusivity need to be valued and emphasized when designing peace processes and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) processes. Gender inclusive approach is presented as an alternative approach that will not only enable Somali to address the root cause of conflict but also it will take cognizance the new/reverse of gender roles and relations which emerged during the conflict as a return to previous gender roles and relations will jeopardize women’s gained leadership roles. In post-conflict, it is pivotal to maintain the gains which women and men made, Dini argues that rebuilding a State in Somalia implies going back to the old ways – going back to the ways things were and this is problematic. Post-conflict transformation is a better term to use than rebuilding, because transformation averts the return of patriarchy and emphasizes on gender equality in post-conflict stage. Gender equality is Stated to be central to peace-building, State-building and post-conflict transformation.

Discussion and Conclusion

The importance of mastering Somali culture, language and other knowledge was emphasized, some of the participants noted that Diaspora are not nationalists and will not return to their homeland and this needs to be researched further.

It was noted that Islamic scholars offer the best explanation of the importance of clannism / kinship, Kwame Nkrumah was a diaspora and advocated for Pan-Africanism.

Somalis are emerging Diaspora community and not yet established,  Somali Diaspora needs to return to Somalia in order to make effective contribution while contribution to Somalia can be made from afar as well.

It was argued that Somali diaspora have contributed to the on-going violence in Somalia, the armed opposition groups are from the diaspora and the current TFG cabinets are from diaspora.

In the discussion, questions such as ‘Can diaspora be anti-clanism?’ ‘Can diaspora be role models for Somalis who are in Somalia?” were raised.  Some of the participants felt that diaspora are anti-clan and nationalists while others argued that they can also be role models.  Hybridity and mobility were identified as the resources needed to increase the Somalis. The question of belonging is complex, for instance, Somali diaspora belong to their adopted countries and to Somalia [their country of origin].

It was stated that the existing socio-economic conditions in the host land shape the ways in which diaspora engage with their former homeland. The contribution of Somali Diaspora in Somalia is not new, for example, the Somali Kenyans who came to Somalia in early 1980s, with their education, skills and expertise  have injected new thinking, good management and raised the profile of the military regime at the international level.

The loss of language leads to disintegration of nations, hence in order for Somali diaspora to sustain themselves, Somali language and culture must be preserved and if Somali language disappears, our Somalinimo will inevitably decline.

Lack of education was noted to lead to discrimination and marginalization of Somali women and girls yet their contribution is important and must be encouraged as God did not forbid women and girls from playing pivotal roles in their society, socially, economically and politically. The number of women taking place in formal peace processes should be increased as women in Galkacyo proofed their ability by facilitating reconciliation between two conflicting groups. It was women who brought traditional leaders representing the two warring clans to sit together and make peace.

Ibrahim A. Mohamed presented a paper titled “Does Civil Society in a Stateless Environment hinder or help in re-establishing of a Failed State?” He defined CS as voluntary groups or organizations that came together to limit the power of State and church. CS refers to the arena of uncoerced collective action around shared interests, purposes and values. In theory, they are distinct from the State, family and market (LSE 2004). CS are perceived to be important actors that can promote democracy as they inform citizens about their rights and responsibilities and pressure government to meet citizens needs and rights.

A question is then raised what can CS do when there’s no state? In an environment such as Somalia, does CS help or hinder the re-establishment of failed State? Ibrahim argued that CS are not new actors in Somalia. During the colonial period – from 1950 to 1960 [initial stage], there were some Somali CS established to defeat colonial power and fight for national independence.

After independence from 1960 to 1969, a powerful amalgam of CS emerged and the newly independent State allowed them to mature.  When the military government came to power, CS disappeared because the military government prohibited the existence and activities of independent CS groups. The military government created and funded its own CS which resembled CS but not genuine and independent CS, The disintegration of Somali State led to the emergence of CS.

Donors also contributed to the rise of CS in Somalia in order to deliver services to the vulnerable population in Somalia. CS created jobs (imbalance of power) and profit making for the individual actors who manage such CS. There has been antagonistic relationship between CS and the TFG with Somali CS receiving more money than government. Somali CS fear losing resources from donors and they hinder the re-establishment of a State in Somalia.

The international community is using two-tract diplomacy to reconstitute a conventional central government. Ibrahim argued that the conflict of Somalia has attracted considerable misguided attention. More emphasis is placed on military intervention and clan structures than addressing the root causes of the conflict. The role which Somali CS can play in State-building is often overlooked.

Discussion and Recommendation

The question on how to differentiate CS from interest groups was raised; the participant noted that he prefers Hegel’s definition of civil society – that civil society is between State and family. Another participant argued that Somali CS are hindering the process of State-building with some rich and strong CS which receive millions of dollars and the Transitional government which is ‘supposed’ to be regulating them is poor.

Who is CS, who are they? Traditional leaders were paid by the military government, and the presentation was relying on Euro-centric definition of CS. Another definition of CS is an extension of the State as there is an emerging new scholarship on civil society what is called Transnational CS and they create Transnational State.

One of the participants inquired of the difference between non-State actors and CS? This necessitated the need to do more research on Somali CS particularly those which operate on voluntary basis since everybody is claiming to be a member of CS. An example being when warlords brought groups claiming to be CS at the Mbagathi peace conference, the organic of the CS should be examined.

It was noted that in 1960, there was a strong women’s association and Somali CS do have economic interests and thus, hinder the process of State-building; a new definition of Somali CS is needed.

Can Somali CS be united? Armed opposition groups use religion to recruit youth who become the foot soldiers of these armed oppositions hence the interconnection between social issues and religion. Clan was also used to recruit youth to destroy opponent clans now religion is the new tool used to perpetuate violence and advance the interests of certain groups.  There is need to have genuine religious scholars who can counter the mis-use of Islam, violence perpetuated piracy particularly among youth in Somalia and argued that piracy and youth must be addressed and studied further. Some CS were described to be one man / women  and brief case CS and lauded NCF for being a genuine CS.

Session Four: Civil Society

Moderator: Dr. Hassan Mahadallah

Presenters: Ali Malaq, Gen. Jama Mohamed Khalib, Abdi Baffo and Hamdi Abdulle

Dr. Mahadallah discussed three different perspectives explaining the underlying causes of Somalia’s Conflict. First perspective, scholars such as Bestman, Khasim Malin, Cassanelli argue that conflict in Somalia is an economic conflict (resource-based conflict), a conflict between the have and the have-nots.

Second, the conflict of Somalia is attributed to socio-cultural differences that include geographic, language and ethnic differences. Scholar such as Muqtar argues that the inter-ravine region and its people are distinct from other regions including having a distinct language. Mansur also highlighted the ‘maay’ vs. ‘maxaa tire’ languages and States that they are two parallel with same origin and are equal Somali languages. Eno also emphasized ethnicity as a factor that led to the violence in Somalia – Somali Bantu, nomadic warrior clans fighting against rural- urban population.

The third perspective is power struggle – the root cause of the conflict in Somalia is power struggle- Abdikhadir Oromo’s concept xagasha – xasarada that groups from particular geographic zones such as Bosaso, Galkacyo and Hobyo started this xasarada / violence. Mahadallah added that leadership deficiencies particularly corrupted leaders and dictatorship have led to this conflict. The ambitiously driven of the few – Euphors, such as Aidid, Ali Mahdi to gain power by all means necessary is another factor that led to the violence.

In Ali Malaq’s presentation, he argued that the underlying causes of Somalia’s conflict are multiple and they include marginalization, hunger, diseases, ignorance, poverty, ethnic conflict, representation, failed State, failed leadership, sectarian violence, external influence, human rights abuses, corruption, resource sharing, power-sharing, extremism and lust for power.

Other contributing factors include; climate change, environmental degradation, depletion of natural resources, charcoal production, logging, severe droughts, lack of fresh water, soil erosion, decline in agricultural production, and animal extinction.

Solutions to Somalia’s conflict are multiple, Somalia needs strong State institutions built on consensus, that promote good governance, participation, transparency, accountability, responsive to the needs of all Somali, inclusiveness and efficient. It is important that the country rely on a bottom-up approach which is inclusive. Civic education is also important to educate the public about their rights, duties and responsibilities as citizens while the best solution to the problems should be sought and not individual solutions as cooperation is pivotal to basic survival.

Gen. Jama Mohamed Ghalib’ presentation examined systems of governance in Somali South before 1960. There was Empero Italiano in Africa Orientale, the British military administration, 1941-1950, AFIS: ammustrazione fidiciaria and Italiana Somalia – a UN trusteeship administration from 1950 to 1960. After independence in 1960, three things disappeared and the name Somaliland was given by the colonial power. Historical events were also discussed particularly the birth of Somali Youth Club of 1943 founded by Kenadid and Sakhawadin .

SYL was formed in 1948,in 1948, power delegation visited Mogadishu to ascertain the wishes of the Somali people and SYL activists killed 51 Italians. Italy supported those who opposed independence in order to affect SYL while UN Assembly approved SYL’s program for independence. During trusteeship period, Western powers conspired with Haille Selasie that Somalia should not have its own army. After independence, Abdullahi Isse formed the national army, in addition, President Abdirashid appealed for Western support for the new army. He visited Washington, London, Bonn and Rome but when he failed to gain support for Somalia, he turned to the Former Soviet Union for military support.

Independence of the North of 20^th June 1960 was precipitated by three factors: first, the impending independence of the South; second, the handing over of Somali territories (known as Haud and reserved areas) to Ethiopia; and third, the Egyptian Revolution, Egypt allowed a number of Somali students to study and stay in Egypt. Failed leadership facilitated the military to come to power in 1969. What led to the military government to disintegration? It made number of mistakes. The armed oppositions were not united and there was no trust among them, they were clan-based. The Mbagathi government did not belong to Somalia, it was a government formed and controlled by Ethiopia.

Since the political disintegration until 2006, Somalis are responsible. In 6 months something came up, there was kacdoon (movement) led by ICU, this movement brought the rule of law, order and main Mogadishu port and airport opened up, thus, peace came but was destroyed. What is happening in Somalia is caused by the peace-keepers.

The European Union (EU) initially condemned the Ethiopian invasion in Somalia in 2006 but it currently funds the peacekeepers in Somalia. Jama argued that as long the peacekeepers remain in Somalia, the more likely Al-Shabab will persist. If Somalis are given the right to govern themselves without external intervention, then Al-Shabab can be controlled and defeated by Somali people.

Discussion and Recommendation

Nation and State must share a common history, the people of the South of Somalia shed more blood for the national independence. A participant noted that the contributions of the reer Benadiri in the independence struggle is often ignored and not recorded. During independence, Somalis said “maandeeq waa inoo dhalatay, ee aanu maalno” and not “aanu dhaqaaleyno”. Why did Somalia lose its territory to Ethiopia?

Gen. Ghalib argued that Somalis are responsible for all the things that happened. In 2006, they came up with their own solutions which brought stability; the current problems are externally caused (foreign occupation). It was also Stated that Somalia and Somalis lacks international friends, there is need to research and investigate why this is the case. If Somali cannot secure friends at the global level, then it is impossible to secure global solidarity. When the military came to power in 1969, it was the only actor that fought for change, thus, there was no hope for Somalia.

A participant noted that in 2006 the UIC was a movement owned by Somalis based on consensus, accountability; ownership, transparency and respect for human rights are needed in Somalia. Other participants noted that Somalis are still divided on clan lines and the priorities should not only be material but also moral values.

Abdi Mohamed Baffo presented a paper titled “From Victims to Accountable Citizens: Redefining Civic Space for Political Action”. In the presentation, civil society is defined as actors that “allow the citizens of a country to act for what they think is to the benefit of society, it gives room for debate on the direction of social development, it makes it possible for people to influence government and business” (Fowler 1997). CS organizations include development, humanitarian-oriented NGOs, community groups, traditional groups, women’s groups, associations, youth, charitable organizations, religious organizations, professional association, independent educational organizations, diaspora organizations, independent media, labour unions, indigenous group foundations / philanthropists.

Baffo stated that the rest of the world is presenting Somalia as a threat to the security of the region and the world. The current situation in Somalia remains unchanged, South and Central of Somalia remain under Al Shabab control. Transitional Federal Government’s (TFG) security plan is yet to materialize as there is no change in its security operations and remains confined to Mogadishu. There is a rift within Shabab and they continue to be unpopular in some regions which is a sign of their downfall.

The main stakeholders in Somalia are: TFG, Shabab, Hizbul-Islam, Ahlu Sunna Waljamaaca (ASWJ), IGAD / African Union (AU) and the International Community (IC). In addition, 25 percent of Parliamentarians are not on duty with only 350 out of the 550 members of the Parliamentarians in Mogadishu while internal wrangle characterize the Parliament in place of cooperation.

Al-Shabab and Hisbul-Islam have no established administration as they subject the people to high taxation, extortion, repressive rule, and lack of respect for individual liberty, thus, intellectuals, elders, business people and youth are fleeing the country to neighboring countries.

Recruitment of child soldier remains rampant, the humanitarian space continues to shrink, making aid agencies difficult to deliver aid to the vulnerable population as armed opposition groups are determined to oust TFG and International Community labeled them as terrorists groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda.

ASWJ are armed religious group which emerged to defend itself from Al-shabab’s attacks, it is also emerged to seize its political gains and relies on clan militias and collaborates with Ethiopia and TFG. AU sees Somalia as a threat to world’s security; they see the current conflict in Somalia as a conflict carried out by international terrorist groups and call for UN to convert AMISON to UN peacekeeping operations. International Community wants TFG to develop a road map and to complete key transitional tasks including constitution making.  Civil society, need to look ahead particularly the upcoming post-TFI scenario of 2010, in August, 2011, the mandate of TFG will end and there is no clear succession plan.

There are number of scenarios that may pan out according to Baffo: Al- Shabab may win and take control over Somalia, or TFG may win and there may be another peace process. In this presentation, he highlighted both strengths and weakness of Somali civil society. Some of their strengths include: Somali CS adopted in working in a conflict environment, serve the most marginalized group, they are recognized by the public, some are well established and do humanitarian, advocacy, peace-building and security work including COGWO, WAWA and Nagaad, Somali diaspora fundraised for the activities of CS, Diaspora are part of Somali civil society and participated in past peace processes.

Some of the weaknesses discussed in the presentation include: low trust, division, no common strategy and collective action plan, opportunistic ventures, CS as a springboard, lack of experience in persistent voluntary work, poor organizational capacity, intolerance for diversity of opinions, and poor long-term commitments.

Somali CS can be influential in shaping the outcomes of the peace processes and play crucial role in defining the future – through critical research, assessment, evaluation and advocacy.  Changes of behavior are urgently needed and acceptance and embracing Somalis differences must move beyond the culture of blame. Recognition of pluralism and multiple perspectives are also needed in order to recognize common ground for dialogue- see the differences as asset and not barriers.

CS can build a shared vision and strategy, establish alliance and network for a coordinated plan of actions. Somalia CS are not power-seekers but a catalyst for change including  peace and good governance, commitment, voluntarism, code of conduct,  keeping distance from government to play the role of watch dog. It is important that Somali CS focus on long-term and prepare future leaders.

Baffo called for the formation of political parties though he noted there are challenges in forming political parties, Will they be multi-partisan, SYL model, diaspora, or inside Somalia, community rootedness, clan based or principle based. Good governance, reconciliation, security, future State, recovery and development are needed. Rebuilding new relationships with international and regional community is critical in finding durable solutions to Somalia.

Hamdi Abdulle presented a paper titled “Serious and a New Approach for Somali Reconciliation”. She noted that the problems in Somalia are caused by Somalis, thus they are the ones who can resolve them. Somalia needs new and serious reconciliation and youth must be involved, she gave an example of how her organization and community in Seattle works with youth and provides support to do their school assignment.

She emphasized the importance of having and hosting community café which can be a communal space where members of the community can talk about their problems and come up their own solutions. Community café can enable the targeted community to think collectively as community and take actions and foster learning conversation.

In community café, the actual participants set up their own priorities and share their own experiences with each other. The host only provides guidance and provides the space for like-minded people to come together and exchange ideas. The participants have the choice to either attend or not to attend the community café gathering. Often the discussions start with strengths of the community and success stories. Relations can be built through discussions and dialogues at the cafe. According to Hamdi, community café model is suitable for our Somali culture and can create an environment where people can release their angers and frustration.

Different forums are organized at the community café, for example, holding youth forums and women forums. Recommendations or solutions that come out of such community cafes can be share shared with their leaders. She noted that a small group of people can bring a positive change, solutions must come from ordinary people and for chain reactions for peace, commitment and hard work are needed in Somalia. Perhaps, community café model can enable warring groups the space to talk and dialogue.

Session Five: Civil Society

Moderator: Dr. Mohamed Ali Nur

Presenters: Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir, Dr. Yusuf A. Nur, and Abdulrahman M. Abdullahi (Badiyow)

Farah Sheikh presented a paper titled “Higher Education in Somalia: the Missing Links”. In this paper, he pointed out that in pre-war, there were few universities in the capital and managed by the government. Post-secondary education was made free for all and was considered to be a public good, after the collapse of Somali State, more universities were built.

There are 30 universities operating in major towns in Somalia and Somaliland, they are owned and run by private and community institutions. Such institutions do have board of governance / trustee overseeing their affairs, management board and senate who are responsible for academic issues and Presidents. They are not free for all as tuition fees are charged and this affects affordability and accessibility of the poor people, some of these universities are owned by foreign entities.

The ultimate goals of the current High Education institutions should build students’ skills and knowledge and transform gained knowledge and skills into competences. The competency and qualifications of graduates will contribute to the nation-building process. Farah asked the question whether the current higher education institutions are able to develop the required competencies for building well functioning national institutions.

He pointed three ways in which higher education institutions can make contributions to institutional rebuilding. First, they transfer knowledge through teaching second, they produce knowledge through research, and third, they contribute to community development through service delivery. Farah also pinpointed some of the deficiencies existing or missing links in these institutions.

According to him, there is lack of clarity of the roles of existing boards, such bodies are not accountable to any authority and the community. Other deficiencies include: incomplete structures, weak managerial capacities, lack of access to these universities due to their geographic locations, gender gaps (less women are attending these universities) and lack of diversity in disciplines.

For instance, Business Administration, social sciences, engineering and sciences including IT are the only programs offered in these universities which lead to over-enrolment in these limited disciplines. They also lack long-term strategic planning, benchmarking and re-engineering capacities. He noted that if such institutions were asked to provide their five year work plan, none would.

These institutions do not offer student services including academic guidance and counseling, coaching and mentoring. There are no preventative health measures that target QAT and HIV/AIDs and quality of the education offered is not defined or measured.

For example, qualities such as purpose (do they fulfill their visions and accreditation), quality of standards (production / performance in academic, competence, service), quality as excellence (uncritical, conservative), quality as consistency (zero defect or zero errors), quality as value for money (investment, expenditure and accountability and quality as transformation (empowerment and enhanced customer satisfaction).

Civic education is missing from the current curriculum used in these institutions.  There are no student support and progression programs, programs that prepare students to compete at the global level are yet to be offered and there are no rigorous research, consultancy and extension programs for students.

In conclusion, Farah called for a national education agenda and policy which will contribute to the recovery process. The role of Higher Education institutions need to be redefined, voluntarism to be promoted particularly Somali scholars must assist Higher Education institutions in Somalia. The gaps such as access, regional, gender and disciplines must be addressed. Accountability, self-regulation and entrepreneurship must be encouraged in these institutions as Somalia is a country of opportunities.

Dr. Yusuf Nur presented a paper titled “State-Private Sector Partnerships: What Somali State-building can learn from Somali Business Entrepreneurial Models”. He noted that since the collapse of Somali government, the private sector emerged and continues to flourish in a State-less Somalia. He posed the question: how can the new Somali government benefit from its people who initiate business activities?

Somali people are talented people but lack government and security. How can the entrepreneurship of the Somali people benefit the State-building process? He highlighted how a high school graduate manages the software program of Dahabshil money transfer. Somali business group gained 20 years of conducting businesses and how can such experiences be used to build and improve public goods? Public-Private partnership (PPPs) refers to when a company puts more emphasis on areas of its expert and hands over to another company to perform tasks-not areas of its expert, on its behalf.

Appropriate measures are needed to promote private-public partnership. He advised the new government to protect the private sector from large and competitive companies that have more resources and technology. Good governance is needed to protect and sustain the newly emerged private sector, if there is going to be a corrupt government, then it will be difficult to protect local industries. An example of public-private partnership is in Malaysia where private sectors are contracted to maintain roads and tolls are charged for all users.

Abdirahman Baadiyow presented a paper titled “Bringing back the Somali State and what can we do about it?” For Baadiyow, the previous military government and the transitional governments were not heading in the right direction in terms of leadership which  led to their failures. In the past, four principles were used to build a State: first, it focused on the unity of the nation – Somali weyn; second, it was also based on clanism (qabil) yet it attempted to move away from clanism; third, there was a strong central government that had more power and was in the capital; and fourth, it adopted secularism and this is no longer used in the transitional governments.

In post state collapse, there is use and relying on 4.5 clan formula for power sharing and State-building, Clanism is legitimized and promoted while federalism is used as form of building a new state, however, no one knows what it entails. What visions and principles shall we use when building a new state? Shall we re-use previous principles? How will Islam work in Somalia? The West wants secular government in Somalia but what is possible and viable for Somali? What is missing  from the current methodology of State-building? There is the tradition, xeer [customary law] and religion, in the past, Islamic scholars and traditional leaders were not actors in the State-building processes, the  freedom fighters were the political leaders and  4.5 clan formula never existed.

Political parties were used as social movement to build a State a good  example being SYL the longest political party which succeeded in liberating Somalia and the ruling party. SYL also became corrupted and it is pivotal to understand the different stages of SYL. Then, the military came to power in 1969 and disintegrated in 1990and for the last 20 years, there were no political parties, the government and the public fought against each other.

The clan elites fought one another to gain political power using violence and force, those who felt marginalized took up arms and fought against the government representing their clans. Somali cannot be represented through clans as they need to see themselves as citizens with patriotism and nationalism movements and a political movement not based on 4.5 clan formula [xarakatul-wadaniya] .

Somalis are now global citizens who reside in various parts of the world, they need to organize politically, build networks and alliances in order to become effective citizens. People need to be encouraged to move away from clans to political processes which require trust and patience with planned actions.

Discussion and Recommendation

A participant raised the questions whether there is a clear cut between State and civil society and if CS could distant itself from government. He noted that the kind of CS existing in USA and Kenya are totally different from Somali CS, Somali CS cannot function like CS operating in safe countries. One participants begged to differ with another on the statement that CS should distance itself from government, as it was noted that Somali CS are placed in a very difficult position. If Somali CS criticizes those who are perpetuating violence and if they help the victims of violence, then they are accused for taking sides in both cases.

Baffo clarified that his presentation did not suggest that Somali CS should not join the government, but each group has different roles and responsibilities, the government wants to support CS and CS do not want.

It was also Stated that government is not trusting Somali CS because it is afraid that if it develops a close relationship with them, then they will take over. Some Somali CS are also eyeing  private sector particularly those involved in charcoal production. Majority of the participants called for Somali CS to both advocate for social justice and be critical about injustices while some of the participants noted that the separation between CS and State does not exist. There was a consensus that strong CS will translate and lead to good governance as the current structure and political visions of Somali CS need improvement.

It was noted that PPPs may promote accountability, fight corruption and favouritism as it was also important to protect local industries and markets from foreign companies.

Business warlords have taken advantage of the political situation in Somalia, they import expired medicine and food- war-profiteers. Some business groups are ready to participate in peace and State-building.

Somalia’s problem was noted be leadership as all the leaders of TFG and TFI lacked good characters, visions and messages and assertion was made that unity and national unity should be Somalia core value.

The 4.5 clan formula was said to be an Ethiopian brain-child though it was packaged as though it was Somalis who initiated this formula, federalism – a governing system and a concept was brought up by Abdurahman Tur. The idea was to provide each region the opportunity to become self-sufficient; however, the Ethiopians used it to divide Somali. The question is: how do we unite our people?  Somalis were said to only eye the fruits [power] and not the tree that bear such fruits. Honesty is needed in order for Somalis to work together, welcome correction when they fail and make mistakes.

One of the participants raised the question whether secularism and Islam can be combined. Religion is a personal issue and if Somalis are God fearing people, then they would not have been in the current mess.  It was pointed out that in politics Somalis usually fail miserably but outside politics they are very resourceful people.

He stated that there are two types of religious groups in Somalia; the group that took up arms (waranle / dabley) and the one that joined the CS (wadaad – religious men).  It is wrong for religious leaders to claim that they are better leaders / politicians than others, political leadership is missing and how it is sought by individuals is wrong. Leadership does not start by obtaining Presidency but it is about building a capable political team that can govern Somalia, mega-reconciliation is needed. Somalia needs a government that reflects Somali culture and religion, urgent ‘Harakatul-Wadani’ – national movement that will take Somalia out its current ruins.

Somalis were noted to never have had a State but regimes, the world is now talking about post-nation-State, globalization and regionalism with the most successful companies owned by certain families (kinship capitalism) remittances have also contributed to the prolonged violence in Somalia. Transnationalism is haraka – movement which needs to be indigenized these harakats – diaspora incorporation. How do we use social networks such as face book and twitter to mobilize people and generate ideas?

The current higher education institutions lack expertise in agriculture and marine biology, history, literature and environment are not taught in these universities. The textbooks used in these institutions are designed outside of Somalia hence a call to Somali intellectuals to form a group which will produce these textbooks.

A Briefing on Djibouti Conference by Ahmed Shell, Farah Abdulkhadir and Abdirahman Baadiyow

Ahmed, Farah and Baadiyow attended the Djibouti conference and briefed the NCF’s conference; they noted that it was a conference for Somali intellectuals organized by the government of Djibouti together with the Institute of Strategies Studies. The goal of the conference was to bring Somali intellectuals together to discuss the current Somali issues. It was considered to be a positive gathering because Somali intellectuals came up with solutions and made their own inputs, others saw it as non-inclusive.

43participants from all over the world attended this conference that was chaired by Prof. Ahmed Samatar. Papers presented interrogated the root causes of Somalia’s problems, what kind of leadership and what kind of State they need, the role   of Islam, the role of Diaspora, Security, Regional / International roles in building peace and State.  There were group discussions where various issues such as security, small government and small parliament were discussed as participants agreed and disagreed on.

President Guled attended the conference on the last day and Stated that the international community failed and neglected Somalia. Somaliland was also discussed and it was suggested that more attention and engagement with Somaliland is needed.

Some people saw the conference as non-political conference but simply a conference where Somali intellectuals discussed the problems in their homeland and proposed solutions while others saw it as a political conference and there was suspicion (tuhin). The agenda of the conference was not clear initially, it was agreed that after August 2011, the term of TFG must come to an end and no extension should be provided. However the Djibouti government requested that those messages be left out because it would look like a political campaign, a communiqué was formulated and it should available.

Group Discussion on Post-August 2011 Scenario in Somalia

This session was chaired by Baffo and Farah Sheikh. The participants were divided into 6 groups consisting of 5 to 6 individuals to debate on burning issues in Somalia. If the transition period of TFG ends in August 2011, what are the things that may emerge? What are the possibilities? What are the scenarios – visible or invisible ones? Will AMISON leave Somalia? Will there be Shabab victory? What changes can emerge in Post-August 2011? Which scenario is best option for Somali ? What contributions can CS make? The 6 groups debated and came up the following:

Group Reporting Session

Emerging Scenarios:

• TFG victory, defeat, or stagnant: No change;
• Shabab victory;
• Political vacuum;
• No extension for the current TFG;
• International community to disengage;
• Shabab to become more powerful with the merger of other warring factions that could result in Shabab  winning the war;
• Balkanization, warlordism and political vacuum;
• Intervention / occupation by foreign troops;
• New Dynamics that could result more effort on Northwest and Northeast that could facilitate reconciliation and security arrangements;
• Trusteeship;
• New actors may emerge.

Best Options

1. Political settlement (the existing institutions continue with some changes);
2. Extend TFI mandate with (legitimate extension through constitutional assembly, illegitimate extension by unilateral decision, full / half extension as a package but there must be conditionality):

• · New leadership (choose new Speaker and President);

• · Current leadership;

• · Legitimate through constitutional assembly;

3. New Peace Process (starting all over) – inclusive like Arta and not one that will be attended by few;
4. To convene a meeting of regional administration, existing TFIs and opposition groups;

Session Six: Group Presentation and Discussion

Facilitators: Farah Sheikh and Baffo

Somali Civil Society Contributions

• · Lobby for to international community – inform them of Somali s priorities – what Somalis need and not what International Community wants;

• · Bridge the gap between international community and Somalia;

• · Opening dialogue between parties involved;

• · Stay positively engaged Somali intellectuals in the peace process;

• · Work with interested intellectuals to help the new peace process;

• · Design a Somali peace process model to ensure ownership (Somalis have to be at the driving seat) and solicit international community’s support provided that it is transparent and accountable manner;

• · Assist and encourage foreign donor to device a mechanism that regulates the role of international community in the Somali affairs;

• · Propose to assist foreign donors to weed out government corruption;

• · Develop a good relationship with TFIs;

• · Support TFG to fulfill its mandates such as security, reconciliation and rebuilding strong public institutions;

• · To hold TFG accountable and demand for transparency;

• · Unifying civil societies and diaspora to play effective roles in peace processes;

• · Agents of Change.

Further Discussion

Dr. Mahadalah – The extension is a full package for both TFG and the Parliament – election.

Abdirahman – The biggest obstacle has been the large parliament.

Ali Malaaq: The extension is an inevitable thing for us. It provides us the opportunity to complete the constitution, improve security, election and so on. Shall we give them conditions and timeline for example, shall we say we expect this government to improve security within 6 months?

Medina: There should be selection criteria for Parliamentarians and size of the Parliament must be reduced.

Farah: There may be disengagement – fatigue of Somalia’s problem, more focus on Somaliland. Political settlement will enable us to keep what we have, and look for what we are missing, make transition, it may provide opportunities to weed out certain group and invite new faces. The past political settlements occurred due to international pressures. For example, former PM Ghedi and Abdullahi Yusuf.

Gaal: Political settlement means that we are proposing to keeping the government in power and telling them to continue to face the problems they are currently facing.

Dr. Yusuf: Institutions are system that will remain including the Parliament. The challenge for us is to how to strengthen our institutions. The number of parliamentarian need to be downsized. Find ways to reduce the size of the parliamentarians.

Sahra Ugas: The current parliamentarians also want political settlement – are campaigning and want that to happen.

Dr. Abdullahi Mahdi: what is it that we can salvage and create opportunities for people who are willing who can be part of this political settlement;

Discussion on the Role of CS in Crafting an Alternative Vision for Somalia (facilitated by Baffo)

1. Platform and collaboration among CS groups to contribute to peace process and future State

• There should be a unity and cohesion among Somali
• Create umbrella that can facilitate / communication / formulate common peace agenda;
• Formulate a national civic agenda;
• Organize an annual CS conferences / congress.

2. How can we overcome division within the CS including diaspora?

• Moving beyond clan politics to organization politics;
• Division of labour organization based on professions;
• Adhere to organizational rules and regulations / by laws (democratization)
• There should be transparency that is conductive to building trust;
• Promote collaboration and  positive competition through the platform;

3. Alternative vision and strategy:

• Clear long-term goals and strategies;
• Gain legitimacy from the public;
• Fill the gap between government and society;
• CS should develop a common interest based on shared ideas (peace, equality and human rights);
• Work closely with civic institutions, private sector and citizens;

4. Three Major priorities for Somali CS

• Improving security through peace-making;
• Participate fully in reconciliation and carry out public consultations.

Kasette Abraha (spelling) became a member of NCF. He noted that it is an important organization and is good for Somalia to have such an active organization.

Session Seven: Assessment of NCF and Suggestions for Improvement – Facilitator Baffo

In this session, conference participants highlighted NCF’s strengths and weaknesses:

Strengths of NCF were said to be the following:

• NCF serves as a platform for so many people from different points
• Its flexibility, diffusion;
• Its neutrality;
• Its different ideas and views;
• Despite  individual work, the NCF work is going on – NCF unified in a diversified way
• Forum for discussion of diverse views;
• Building and encouraging participants to build a network;
• It is non-partisan;
• It is diverse, friendly;
• Time keeping well done and the focus of the topic of discussion;
• Its diverse members and participants;
• NCF’s concerns, missions and values are valued;
• Its ability in bringing people together to discuss pertinent issues concerning Somalia;
• Its composition, quality and dedication including its executive and the Board;
• It translates its mission without hidden agenda;
• Its ability in enabling different people to agree on important issues.

NCF’s weaknesses were said to be the following:

• Lacks better conference organization, timing, short notice, sharing the theme of the conference;
• No official office;
• NCF should reach out the average Somali common people;
• More actions are needed;
• More inclusive particularly youth;
• No entertainment activities included in its annual conference;
• Its non-partisan needs to be defined, it looks like it has balance between partisan and the need to engage politically;
• Class room environment, no enough discussion time is allocated after presentation;
• The composition of NCF needs to balances in terms of age, gender and geographically;
• NCF’s website need to be improved and overall communication is weak – preliminary topic of the conference;
• Topic of the conference is not prepared in advance;
• A balance of age of the participants is missing;
• Lack of dissemination of activities between the conference;
• Conference administration is weak;
• Participants with different agenda;

Activities that NCF must focus on for next year – 2011

• Diversification of  funding sources – increase partners;
• Collect published papers both from NCF and other sources;
• More effort and activities on security particularly on child soldier to promote stability;
• Activities that can coordinate the efforts of local, regional and international;
• Increase NCF’s activities inside the country;
• NCF should reach out to other civic organizations;
• NCF should seek a financial independence;
• NCF should take the lead on how to establish a social movement – as an activity for next year;
• Form partnership with other local civic organizations to jointly implement activities;
• Collect different ideas / topics and make them available for the use of both by different actors;
• Clear road map forward for the next year and increase the visibility of NCF;
• NCF is best positioned to link with Somaliland civic actors and CSO. Thus, NCF next year activity to focus on how to foster an open dialogue with Somaliland. Another activity would be to open an office inside Somalia, NCF should advice and lead the  activity concerning the way forward for the Somali state and there is an imminent change of the Somali political landscape;
• NCF should not wait until next year to participate and lend the future landscape of Somalia and must emphasize on neutrality;
• Conference participants’ email to be circulated – after the deliberation at least one item should be implemented;
• One activity is to increase the participation of the youth in the next year’s conference. Each NCF’s members make an activity in his/her region;
• Concept mentioning different pertinent issues: Piracy etc.; choose ambassadors to share NCF. activities

In the same session, Ali Omar talked about the NCF’s website where there is an email list for members for communication. He called the members to volunteer and form a team who will manage and run the email-list group. The existing e-list is essential but it needs a program Israac , for instance had a team who set the agenda and facilitate the discussion. NCF need someone who can summarize the discussion and formulate discussion papers as website is the eye of the organization.  He informed the participants that he needs more of their feedback and inputs to know what needs to be added and changed in the website.  The website talks about the activities of NCF – forums, conference and youth conference and input will lead to its improvement.

Valuable sources of information and publication written by UN, World Bank, Joint Needs Assessment (JNA) and other publications like Bildaan are available on the website.

A member thanked Ali for his work and he suggested the word Somali to be placed in front of NCF. The Chair Baffo informed the participants there was a political reason why it was this way; [NCF] without the word Somali and it was open to discussion. The number of visitors to NCF’s website continues to grow each day.

Session Eight: Recording of media Panels

All the last year panels were aired on Universal TV, 4 panels were put together to debate on the following topics:

1. How can Somalia be led out of the transition quagmire?  -panelists: Ahmed Sheikh Shell, Dr, Mohamud Nur,Hassan Tata,  Zahra Ugas, Farah, and Gen. Ghalib.
2. Can Somali CS play a more effective role? – Panelists:  Baffo, Dr. Ga’al, Dr. Saida, Ibrahim Sheikh, and Asha Kin.
3. The role Somali business in Somalia? -Panelists: Dr. Hodan Isse, Dr. Yusuf, Abdurahman Warsame , Eng. Sabrie, Safia Assali, and Medina Amir
4. The role of diaspora in finding solutions in Somalia- panelists  Mohamed Khalif Bidar, Khalid Macow, Abdullahi Mahdi, Abdulkadir Osman, Ali Omar.

A participant questioned the transparency in composition of the panels, how were they chosen? Who decided the panels and the participants? Ugas was responsible for the task and care was taken not to jeopardize people’s security particularly those who operates in unsafe zones.

First panel Discussion:

1. How can we lead Somalia out of the transition quagmire?

The question, what advice could the participants gives to help Somalia to get out of this situation? Was posed. NCF in 2004 a conference debated about the formation of an organization, in Feb. 2005 NCF was established. Since its establishment it has been working to bring Somali intellectuals together to find solutions to Somalia’s protracted conflict and this was its 4^th conference. Changing the direction of international community, change approach of peace problems, use examples from other countries that experienced civil war and political disintegration.

Each panelist was given an opportunity to contribute to the discussion. Gen. Ghalib worked in Somalia as a General for the national military. He said that Somalis always blame their predecessors yet it was the people who brought the change – the UIC (kacdoon – movement), each community and group organized. Currently the country is out of the peoples’ hands and it is being controlled by others. He demanded changes in the ways international community deals with Somalia. IC is using IGAD and they want to replace IGAD with another neutral force. The social movement that occurred in Mogadishu in 2006 brought change (short-term).

Zahra Ugas: urged the participants to learn from the past peace processes, they were held outside of Somalia: Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia. It seems that these countries have their own interests and often interfere with Somalia. The processes were micro-managed, criminals and incompetent people were brought to the negotiation table and 4.5 was used through which an illiterate man was given the chance to come to the table and educated people were marginalized. Note that the procedures were not followed chairs flew in all directions, it was over attended making negotiations impossible.

The one that was held in Djibouti was better than the others. The peace processes should be  held  in Somalia and if that is not possible,  in Puntland or Somaliland. The chair and the participants must Somalis who are competent and capable. People should move away  from 4.5 and use people who are capable, Somalis can be a force but must unite.

Hassan (Tatta): called on the International Community to give Somalis the space to shape their destiny.  Reconciliation must be conducted differently from previous forums, before reconciliation he advised the Somalis to support the current TFG until expiry of its mandate in August 2011. After they would be justified to say Somalis want something different and call for a peace process. He noted the problematic area to be Parliament so it should be the target of change.  He urged the Somalis to study other countries that experienced violence and learn lessons from the

He emphasize that Somalis can recover without external intervention. In 1994, over 30,000 troops were taken to Somalia and gave no solutions, the UN also attempted to make interventions but failed, thus Somalis must develop self-confidence and they can bring change.

Ibrahim: There are a number of countries that have experienced brutal civil wars including Europe, and the only Superpower – USA also experienced war. The conflict in Somalia has led to deaths and destruction. The country is yet to see Somali scholars who studied other conflict zones, how these countries emerged out of the conflict and what strategies they used. The reconciliation emphasized in Somalia is half reconciliation because it is clan based rather than individual or group reconciliation.

There is need to learn from studies and experiences and see what examples are applicable within Somalia’s context, such examples can be used in State-buildings and peace-building.  South Africa used the Truth, Justice and  Reconciliation as a forgiveness  model to heal the nation. Rwanda also experienced brutal conflict but recovered – 800,000 were killed during the genocide but have also used TJC model.

Zahra Ugas: added that women have played pivotal roles in peace-building and rebuilding, Rwanda now has the highest number of female parliamentarians. Haddii lagu shiilanayo sheeg, haddii aan lagu sheegina sheeg-the role of Somali women cannot be overlooked, all over the world, women played major roles in peace-building. It was the hard work of Somali women that saved Somalia, Islam allows women to be part of politics and must learn the religion and understand their rights. For the last 20 years, all the good things that ever happened in Somalia were done by Somali women.

spontaneous or organized movement, leadership is needed for such movement for example, ICU, it was the people who rose and organized. Such movement must be Somali owned and not something that is brought from outside. Social movement is the only option that can enable country rise from ashes. Social movement spearheaded by the Court brought stability and confidence. The society must decide and take actions, a socially organized movement with effective leaders will lead to durable solution.

Ibrahim Abikar: cautioned that such social movement if it is not carefully organized with guiding principles to govern the people and the nation. Without the guiding principles the leaders of the movement turned against each other. He stated that emphasize should not only beon State-building but formulate programmes that can benefit the people.

Questions and comments from the audience to Panel One:

Participants agreed that Peace processes can be held in Puntland or Somaliland for guarantee and after all they are Somalis).

It was noted that Somalis could look for peace through the barrel of the gun or by force, the hadarado  destroyed their efforts, they  are poor in terms of material but not poor in terms of imagination, a starving nation is a begging nation.

Social movement was said to lead to change but Social movement that lacks long-term planning will inevitably fail, Somali can do without external support. The enemy of my enemy is my friend” – labadii xaq daro ku xeshiiso xaqa ayey ku dirarayaan” – Somali need an ethical social movement.

All the positive things that exist in Somalia, Somaliland are usually the products of Somalis, no one helped them, they did not beg anyone, Somaliland and Puntland are good examples.

Second Panel Discussion:

Can Somali CS play more effective role in peace-building?

Guiding question: What is CS?

Asha Kin noted that CS h existed even before 1990s, they are characterized by self-reliance and  willingness to serve the people (abaay abaay . Examples include – Sheikh Noor Hussein, Awo- Aweys, Sheikh Muhiddin, women’s organization – SOWDO. There were other  CS that were financed and controlled by the government.

Ibrahim: stated CS has always existed in Somalia but it was in 1990s when more of them emerged. There is no one single definition of civil society in Somalia. What can they do? Democratization, CS can educate the public on the importance of having a State and rule of law.

For Gaal: CS exhibits  3 characteristics : non-armed and not seeking political power or part of the State (non-State actors); organization, united and activities; their work is for the people. Some business people are armed in order to protect their businesses.  CS have internal and external linkages (to access resources) to serve the people. Example, is when the drought occurred in the Gedo region, CS managed to respond to the drought in Gedo.

Baffo: CS includes NGOs who work for humanitarian, development, human rights and professional associations such as teachers, doctors and so on. They are independent from government and are not profit-seeking institutions.

Where do traditional elders fit? In the North, traditional leaders were influential but the ones in South and Central lost power because no one is willing to listen to them

Gacal: CS was new to Somalis, it came during the Military regime. After that they emerged more during the UN peacekeeping operation and gained support from international aid agencies.  In 1994 when international organizations left, some of them disappeared where as others survived and they continue to attend to the needs of the vulnerable people. They have been doing government duties like social service delivery and they are perceived to be opposing the government. They are important actors and will remain so for years to come despite being labeled “gacmo gaalo – infidels hands.

Asha: women’s organization have been the backbone of the Somali society they include Women’s umbrella: COGWO, WAWA and NAGAAD. CS / NGOs are different  with some having better expertise, organization, skills and access to resources;

What can they do?

She noted that the parliament is useless, there is a weak government that fights against armed groups hence affecting  the civilians. She believes an agenda that is designed outside Somalia will not help Somalia. Piracy is another problem whose root causes needs to be investigated, Somalia continue to be deeply divided – the balkanization of Somalia. They can do the following: a) must protect the human rights for all, b) to advocate for the people; c) to continue supporting for the vulnerable.

She recommended Kacdoon – a movement to bring political change in Somalia, a peaceful movement whose aim has to be clear and one. Sovereignty, religion, citizenship are rights and must be sought  peacefully, such movement needs to plan, strategise and time-line.

Ibrahim: CS can be political and do 2 things: Political negotiation; formulation of policies and can be a driving force. The government has no link with the people, CS can initiate a movement that can place pressure on government.

Questions and comments from other participants:

CS was urged to unite, maintain its independence and must play important roles in peace, unity and State-building

Women opened the women’s hospital – Hospital Benadir. Why is it that CS are unable to unite?

Why was it possible to establish peace in Somaliland and Puntland and not in South and Central? In the South, traditional leaders are not known outside of their village, In the North, traditional leaders are known outside of their villages.

The schools resemble stories, so how can such schools be portrayed as civil society?

Participants noted that Somali  society lost leadership and role models thus the need to praise the ones that are doing good job (honouring self-less activists like Medina General).

A participant noted the CS are divided into 2: profit –making and not-profit making.

Panel 3 Discussion

What can Successful of Somali business make in building peace?

Some of the positive outcomes of war-torn countries  is economic freedom.

Abdirahman: Before the conflict,  anyone who wanted to start a business she/he could borrow money from the bank. Institutions collapsed when the Somali State collapsed thus, business people started their own businesses as Somalis are good business people, government institutions are lacking hence the tendency to condemn business people. They lack a safe place to keep money.

There are three major ports in Somalia: Bosaso, Berbera and Mogadishu with different taxation (canshur).  The tax collected from ports support small-businesses and new businesses which reduces poverty.

Hodan: highlighted the need to differentiate between two types of business people: halal vs haram business groups. There is no relationship between State and the business people.  There is something called political and economic freedom, the business people have to pay taxes and must respect the rule of law. Charcoal is commonly owned resources. In any business one must make profits, When can profit-making be halal, ethical profit?

What can business people do to rebuild Somalia? What role can they play in building peace, recovery and overcoming poverty?

There should be unity and making the local market accessible and this may lead to employment creation and to link local markets and businesses. The government must come up with institutions that will protect businesses from looting and violations. There should also be laws and regulations that will control business people.

Medina: The business people played important roles,  diversity and initiated businesses that did not exist before. There are two types of business: Halal and Haram, those who want to make profit from charcoal production conduct haram business as it affects the environment. She said she know some people who made a lot of money out of the problems.

On charcoal production business, the current government is not aware of its responsibility in fighting against this illegal business. Two things can be done: Making charcoal production and tree cutting  illegal business activities and pressuring governments that purchase Somali charcoal. Some businesses who have benefitted from the absence of State, do not want government. They spent so much time on private security than supporting government that can establish security.

Businesses should be a source of Job creation for young  people hired to protect.  It is important that businesses should make profits at the same time telecommunication and airline businesses must support the poor people.

She concluded by stating that peace is prerequisite for economic growth and job creation.

Dr. Yusuf: said business people must be ethical all the time (qiyam). During crisis, some people  prospered while other lost a lot. Business groups do have certain responsibilities to fulfill and the State has responsibilities as well the latter have been missing in Somalia.

Majority of businesses are halal and law-abiding group, during the last 20 years, vibrant Somali businesses emerged. It is during this period when globalization entered in Somalia, this opportunity made it  impossible for these businesses to become established including telecommunication.

They benefitted from Statelessness and no State protection for them, thus, anything could be brought in Somalia (no State restrictions). However  it will not be business as usual, business groups must understand that profit-making alone will not be the only thing, it is essential for them to assist their people and country.

They have resources and thus must participate in State-building processes, they have a responsibility of protecting the environment which is also a religious responsibility. Have you earned your money in halal-way? Did you share it with those who are in need? It is their benefit to support a government that will establish security and ensure their protection, a government project that will enable local industries to survive without being run down by large and competitive corporations coming from outside. He urged the Somalis to cease being short-sighted and look for long-term visions.

Safia: urged the participants not to condemn all the businesses as they are some  of the most powerful pillars of the society, there is need for rules and regulations and awareness-raising to the public.

Questions and comments from other Participants:

What are the statistics of those good businesses (ethical)? Is it ethical to condemn all good businesses for one bad business person, is that fair to do that?

There are few bad apples and the majority of business groups are decent, and hardworking people.

A participant noted that business people are not nationalist and patriotic while another said it is all of Somalis including business people who are not patriotic (wadananimo).

Panel Four Discussion:

The role of diaspora in finding solutions in Somalia.

This  is the generation who benefited from displacement and gained education. Can diapora be part of the solution? Can they contribute to peace and recovery? The panelists resoluted to first debate on positive issues.

Abdullahi Mahdi: All diapora are in agreement that there is need for a government in Somalia. There are positive things about diaspora and Mahadi agreed with sister Hodan on the need to be honest and talk about the negative aspects also so as to participate in the rebuilding process of Somalia. They have been positive force and they can be part of CS. They have created diaspora websites and networks that enable Somalis to have a space to share and exchange information.

There are advantages and disadvantages which diasporas have. If they want to carry out projects in Somalia they need to be held accountable. Raising their children in diaspora can be challenging and as parents, they to ensure that their children don’t lose their language and cultural heritage. They  need to safe our children and people, build strong community as They leave their country because of insecurity. The Somalis inside need to tap into the resourcefulness of Somali diaspora. Some websites do perpetuate hatred and Somalis need to use remittances to promote social movement in Somalia.

Abdulkhadir Osman: noted that all want to live in a dignified life hence they  are on the move which is part of life. The man who is in diaspora is looking for a better and dignified life and Somalis  use the term ‘qurbo-joog’ ku dhashay, who came with skills, and the ones who gained new skills, those who  travel back to their country of origin, with history, no history. Do they have an organizational / coordination? Those who have organization and coordination are different from them. There are people who are qurbo-joog without government like Tibet but they have common interests (hadaf, ideology, united).

The benefits of Somali diaspora: is that they raised visibility of Somaliness – dispersal – nin lagu seexdoow ha seexan”. Somalis do have unique opportunities for being everywhere and that they have their language and religion (unifying factors).

By investing in their former homeland they help their people and families. To be productive diaspora itself can be beneficial to the existence of the diaspora by gaining education and taking care of their family).

Somalis in the diaspora are not the same, some of them are involved in the conflict economically, politically and socially. In certain examples like Srilanka, the diaspora fund the conflict. The main problem the diaspora cause to their country  is when they don’t live in a life ‘with karama’, ignorance, insecure. Diaspora must be fit enough to contribute to their country of origin, first, diaspora must become successful in terms of education, economically and thus, they would be an asset to their families and their country. Second, they must learn lessons from other immigrant communities who have succeeded.

He suggested that whoever wants to contribute to the rebuilding of Somalia to bring their families with them and not leave them behind, sacrifice and commitment are needed.

He concluded by noting that there is Jaaliyad / Somali community that promotes  Somalinimo, an indicator of the shift from clan politics to a non-clan system.

Ali Omar: Before independence and after independence, Somalis have always moved to various places. Baadmaayo – qurbo-yoog; those who were sent to study abroad and women who went to Italy for jobs. After the collapse of the State and civil war, there was massive displacement, everyone moved and this changed the migration pattern. Now there are two to three generations who were displaced and living in diaspora. They are professional Somali in the diaspora, brain drain (maskax tagtey) and the question is, what is the balance between brain drain and brain gain?

They are the ones who invested in the country and when they leave the country it becomes problematic. They are loyal to their country, making diaspora  the sixth-clan (beesha lixaad).

Diaspora should be involved in job creation as they create dependency, for instance if remittances stop, a lot of business will stop.

Khalif: One of the strength of Somali diaspora is that their commitment to helping their people  through remittances which have enabled family members to start their own businesses. It became an industry that creates employment for example, the telecommunications are established with remittances sent by diaspora. Diaspora fund-raise for infrastructures and institutional rebuilding such as universities, schools and hospitals in Somalia.

The problems in Somalia do exist in diaspora communities where Somalis are residing. Fadhi-ku-dirir. Family disintegration, a working man disowns his own family or his wife may throw him out of his family and this creates problems in the family. NCF should be involved with diaspora

Dr. Hodan: noted of Surveyed 115 people: 15 women experienced mental breakdown when their spouses took other wives in Somalia and the children taken by children’s aid.

Zahra: said Somalis went to countries where they don’t share culture and religion and division exist in the diaspora with divided restaurants and mosques, why is it you were not able to establish Jaaliyada Denmark? Remittances sent to Somalia encouraged young men and women  buufis who perished in the ocean as they were travelling to unknown destination. During independence, women pressured men to join SYL and to participate in the liberation movement.

Assessment must be made before sending resources for certain projects such as hospitals. Example, Galdogob, millions were spent on building hospital but it is stalled.

Macow: said Somali is a weak community which knows how to build community or institutions but do not know how to maintain them.

Session Eight: Finalization of Recommendation

Dr. Haider: acknowledged that the NCF board received applications from new members and  approved 11 new members who must be present at the General Assembly (GA).

Dr. Mohamed: said that in medical schools, new doctors are forced to make promises / commitment , for the Somali context, the participants need to be committed and fulfill the promises they made, that will lead to concrete results. All present do have history and owe something to their people and country. There are three types of people, the coward, the brave and the educated, the cowards have left the country, the brave ones destroyed it, and the educated are the missing group and must offer solutions to Somalia’s problems.

Dr. Yusuf read the communiqué (war murtiyeedkii ka soo baxay shirka NCF’s 2010) - Crafting an alternative vision for the Somali republic: the Duty that every Somali owes to the motherland drafted by Ali Malaq, Yaha, Ibrahim Abikar, Asha Kin and Dr. Yusuf. Conference participants were given the opportunity to give their inputs and suggested for further revision.  Dr. Yusuf was tasked to revise and finalize the communiqué. The NCF’s 4^th annual conference was officially closed.

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