How can the international community help Somalia move forward?

By Abdinur Aw Ali*

External influences, at the regional and global levels, are playing pivotal roles in Somalia, both in positive and negative ways. And while many Somalis, increasingly believe that left to their own devices, the political/tribal conflict in the country have better chance of been settled, this is unlikely scenario, and not necessarily desirable in the case of the humanitarian relief involvements. The involvements of regional states, global powers, and non-state actors are undeniable reality today and will most likely continue to be major actors in the near future and until Somalis regain control of their destiny and are able to manage their own affairs.  How these influences and involvements are managed or applied will have critical ramifications, may determine any final resolution or lack of it, and could have lingering long-term implications for Somalia’s territorial and political future. So what is the responsibility of the international community toward Somalia?

- Political and Security Areas

The support of the international community to the Somalia’s besieged transitional government is critical in order for the latter to get handle of the security situation in the South.  The international community should continue its support by fulfilling the military and financial commitments already made. This is not because I think that TFG is effective or even legitimate but any sort of resemblance of order, with the potential of moving the cause of stabilizing Southern Somalia forward, is preferable to the current situation.  While the TFG has so far being a major disappoint, it has being in office for merely a year and should be given more time to find its footing.  A significant element of this support has to do with turning the tide of the violent extremist groups, like Al-Shabaab, whose rule of Somalia not only spells a certain doom for the future of Somalia, but also posts significant and eminent dangers to the region and to the world.

And to facilitate a lasting political settlement, the international community should help keep neighboring countries, Ethiopia in particular, out of Somalia.  Political or military involvements of these countries will always spell disaster regardless of however well intentioned. The majority of Somalis have a visceral reaction, are suspicious and fearful of any involvement or intervention in their country by Ethiopia due to the historical enmity between the two countries. While recently the UN Security Council appropriately imposed a sanction on Eritrea for its support to the extremist groups opposing the TFG, Ethiopia has continued to have a free hand in meddling in Somalia’s affairs, including occasional military incursions, without the slightest disapproval from the UN or the major world powers. This undermines even further an already weak TFG regime, whose primary domestic support was built on its opposition to the Ethiopia’s occupation of 2006. It also erodes whatever trust the Somali public has in the international community which, in turn, translates a net gain for Al-Shabaab, whose two main selling points are misuse of Islam and appeal to Somali nationalism.

The TFG is neither the creation of nor the choosing of Somalis.  It was essentially handed to us, and though its structure and form are not desirable or tenable in the long run, it is a structure that can be of use at this time of crisis. The international community has responsibility to see to it that it does not devolve into a dictatorial, totalitarian or autocratic religious regime as it gathers strength and gains control with the backing of the international community – which brings me to my next point.

Regardless of how difficult and agonizing the road maybe, Somalia’s final political goal and destination must be a democratic society at peace with itself and with the rest of the world.  In her article, Flaminia Vola proposes a deeper examination on the role of Islam and the need for it to be part of national conversation, which I concur.  Islam has always being and will continue to be an integral part of Somali life. What is unfortunately missing, and is not part of the conversation, is democracy, the rule of law and individual freedom, the basic blocks of a free society.  While the absence of these critical elements of our future maybe understandable because the severity of the prevailing conditions tend to obscure them, their importance for a stable Somalia cannot and shouldn’t be underestimated.  It would be truly a tragedy if, after two decades of destructive civil war and statelessness, we settle on dictatorship or religious autocracy in the quest for a quick resolution to the current conflict. Assisting grassroots efforts to establish and strengthen local institutions at the district level will help lay the groundwork for such a social development.

- Relief and Development

It is clear that the international community spends significant amount of money on relief, and increasingly more, though considerably less, on development. Yet there is a huge gap between the amount of aid (relief or development) that is pledged or allocated for Somalia on annual basis and what actually reaches on the ground. This needs to be looked into for it perverts the whole process and erodes trust at all levels.  It can reasonably be argued that a fraction, and some claim a small one, actually reaches its intended use on the ground!

The Somali Diaspora is way underutilized by the international community.  Most people with education and managerial skills left the country.  Many do want to help their country by either returning to the old country or assisting it from afar but there are few programmes to help them.  We often face the stark choice of providing for our families or engaging the larger cause of Somalia in a meaningful way.  When I travelled through Somalia two years ago, I noticed the most successful projects and initiatives are the product of partnerships between local communities and Somali organizations overseas!  Most UN, EU and NGOs projects, well intentioned as they may be, either fall apart over time or have very low quality because local communities don’t perceive it as their own, or that they have a stake in them. Yet Somali Diaspora organizations engaged in development efforts in Somalia have very little prospect in getting funding from the international community despite being so well suited to undertake this kind of endeavor. The argument, one often hears from the donor nations and agencies, is that they only deal with local organizations. The point is that, with the exception of few larger cities, the capacity to manage an organization, with the donor community’s expected transparency and standard levels, does not exist locally. So it becomes a catch-22. A significant mobilization of Diaspora’s skill resources, targeted at the district level, can be a catalyst for jump-starting Somalia from the bottom-up!

For the longer-term development of Somalia, nothing is more critical than reviving the educational system.  While there are signs of improvement, the amount of spending in this area, with respect to the overall spending, is woefully inadequate and often mismanaged. Again, community/Diaspora managed and funded projects are most promising and successful but they are constrained by resource limitations.  The outside donor-funded programmes often wither away over time as locals see them as a temporary milking-cow to be taken advantage of.  Given the resources, education is a specific area where Somalis in the Diaspora can play a key role and can do better job than almost any other group. The international community can partner up with legitimate Somali Diaspora organizations which would, in turn, empower local communities through capacity building and preparing them to organize and manage their own local institutions.  For example, the burden of building a school may be too heavy a load financially for a Diaspora community from a particular town. However, this community may be able to finance the school’s operating cost until the local community is able to assume such a financial responsibility.  In a country where the vast majority of the population is under 22 years old, putting the youth in school will not only help secure their future and that of Somalia but could also bode well for stabilizing the South by offering young men an alternative to joining tribal militias or violent radical groups.

As Ms.Vola’s article shows the Somali Diasporas are, by far, the largest private investors in the country. With the exception of telecommunications, financial (Hawala) services and construction (primarily homes), few of these investments make it to the smaller cities and towns. Basic community services such as medical services, running water and electricity are often absent in many mid-sized cities in the South, some with 50,000 people or more, because such services require significant upfront investments with no immediate high rate of return.  Private-public partnerships, where the international agencies and NGOs stand in for the public component, in the absence of functioning provincial or central governments, can help remedy this lack of basic services in many cities in the South.

Finally, Mogadishu is not the South.  The South is not Mogadishu.  Provinces and rural areas are largely ignored, particularly the central regions and the Bay and Gedo ones in the deep South.  It seems the international community, like the TFGs, is stuck with top-down model mentality, which is often neither practical nor optimal.  In order to stabilize the country, Somalia has to be built from the bottom up, both from a political and developmental point of view. The emphasis should be at the district level and moving up structure to the provincial level.  Provinces, cities and towns that show initiative should be rewarded by helping them provide basic services from security to clean water to their local communities.  One major inhibiting factor has been the real risk of local resource contention that could often lead to violence. Again, a carefully planned project that utilizes Somali Diaspora organizations (not just individuals) from the town where the project is located substantially increases the success factor.

This article is the result of a previous conversation on Somali Diaspora which has taken place on this Forum. Also read the interview with Mohamed Aden Sheikh on the same topic.

*Abdinur Aw Ali is a software engineer residing in the US. He worked on various projects in the last 10 years including water wells, clinics and schools in Central and Southern Somalia.  He is currently involved in initial efforts to establish a high school in the city of Abudwaq, in the Galgadud region of central Somalia. Abudwaq has being without a high school for the last 22 years!

Photo Credit: whiteafrican

Written by: SID

Filed Under: Conflict, Featured, Opinions, Opinions, Somalia and The Horn

Tags: Somali Diaspora, Somalia

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