Tema: Postcolonial literatures
By Emil Birk, Programme Manager,
SOS Børnebyerne / SOS Children’s Villages Denmark.
This year “Operation Dagsværk” (the Danish Operation a Day’s Work for students aged 16 – 19) will collect
money for a project implemented by SOS Children’s Villages in Somaliland. The project aims to empower
young people in Somaliland to gain more in luence in a country generally ruled by elders. Emil Birk’s article
deals with the history of Somaliland, its colonial legacy and the position of young people in the country
today.
Somaliland
When speaking of Somalia, the irst connotation is
usually civil war, piracy, terrorism and famines –
the epitome of a failed state.
The seed of various con licts and civil wars in the
Horn of Africa can be found in the European colonial rule, which divided the Somalis into several
countries.
However, the self-proclaimed independent state of
Somaliland has existed for more than 20 years in
the North-eastern corner of Somalia. Somaliland
has experienced peace and stability and has embarked on its own bottom-up state-building project, which has led to a growing economy, social improvements and a stable government.
Despite the progress and stability Somaliland
has experienced, the youth remains marginalised
when it comes to education, employment and participation in the society. Especially, girls and young
women are discriminated.
British colonial rule
Colonial history
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Tema: Postcolonial literatures
From: https://mogadishuimages. iles.wordpress.com/2013/04/map1.jpg
From:http://www.mapcruzin.com/free-maps-africa/horn_of_africa_rel_1972.jpg
Pic. 1: Demographic extension
of ethnic Somalis. Hammond 1980.
Pic. 2: Italian map of the European colonial
borders. Source: Italian colonial
administration 1936.
Italian colonial rule
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Independence from Great Britain
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Civil war and independence from Somalia
I
Political system
Contemporary Somaliland
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The youth
Foto: Emil Birk
Somali students
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Foto: Emil Birk
Young Somali student teaching her peers about
HIV/AIDS in a local secondary school.
Operation a Day’s Work
www.od.dk
Somaliland youth and gender
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