Somalia

World Vision is committed to partnering with the people of Somalia to improve their lives today and to help enact sustainable solutions for the future of their children, families, and communities. Highlights of current programs include:

• Improving children’s access to quality education and increasing school enrollment, student retention, and teacher skills.
• Offering peace education and shared community projects to help Somali families recover from years of civil conflicts.
• Providing food to families struggling with hunger to reduce child malnutrition rates.
• Helping thousands of people access clean water, improved sanitation facilities, and hygiene education.

World Vision began working in Somalia in 1980 by helping Somali refugees fleeing from war between Ethiopian and Somali troops in the Ogaden Desert. Work included establishing feeding centers, drilling wells, and providing sanitation, hygiene, and medical assistance. Since then, some major accomplishments include:

• Providing food to Somalis suffering from drought and war during the 1980s.
• Meeting the medical and nutritional needs of thousands of people in southeastern Somalia, providing food, blankets, seeds, tools, medicine, and more in the 1990s.
• Improving access to clean water by repairing wells and water pumps during the late 1990s.
• Helping women access healthcare in order to lower mother and child mortality rates since the beginning of the 21st century.

Geography and people

Somalia sits in the easternmost area of Africa called the Horn of Africa. The country shares its borders with Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya, as well as the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

Deserts cover most of Somalia’s northern region, with grasslands in the center region and fertile cropland in the south. Somalia’s four seasons alternate between rainy and dry seasons.

Natural resources include uranium, gypsum, bauxite, copper, salt, and natural gas.

Ethnic Somali make up most of the population, with the Bantu and other groups making up the remaining amount. While Somali is the official language of the country, people also speak English, Arabic, and some Italian.

Most Somalis work in the agriculture sector, growing things like bananas, sorghum, corn, coconuts, rice, and sugarcane.

History

In 1960, British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland joined to form the independent country of Somalia. Despite over two decades of socialist rule, the government remained unstable and finally collapsed in 1991.

After the government’s collapse, Somalia fell into a civil war that lasted for years. The violence between rival clans, along with a drought, severely damaged the country’s social infrastructure. Clans in the north separated to form the Republic of Somaliland, a country not officially recognized by any government, and northeastern clans separated to form the semi-autonomous state of Puntland.

Somali leaders have tried several times to form a functioning government since 2000. In 2009, they established another transitional government, but some groups still oppose the leadership. Violence and conflict continues in the country due to the lack of stable government.

Please pray for the people of Somalia and for peace and stability in their country.