GAROWE, NUGAAL, SOMALIA: International City of Peace
Welcome to Mrs. Farhiyo Hussein and her colleagues at Manaal Relief Foundation who have established Garowe, Somalia: City of Peace. Ms. Farhiyo is the current Program Coordinator-Justice, Peace and Security of Manaal Relief Foundation (MRF) that operates on a non-profit basis with core values, principles and philosophy of peace, security and sustainable development aimed at effective and sustainable community transformation in the Nugaal Region of Somalia (also called Puntland).
Garowe is also called Garoowe. (Somali: Garoowe, Arabic: غاروي, Italian: Garoe.
The group has been successful in conflict resolution with many achievements, such as those below:
Results of Our Conflict Prevention and Peace-building work:
- 600 youth engaged in actions to build peace and prevent conflicts.
- 3000 citizens accessed conflict resolution and reconciliation services.
- 7000 people gained increased access to justice.
- Two laws, policies/strategies and plans are under development to build dialogue spaces for conflict resolution.
- Improved activities that prevent the outbreak, escalation, continuation and recurrence of conflict,
- MRF has launched Student Peace Clubs in some schools in Puntland, Somalia.
- Helped two rival clans reach peace agreement through providing spaces for peace dialogues.
- MRF has launched Early Warning System to prevent violence/conflict and build sustainable Peace in Galmudug and Puntland of Somalia.
Note: Introduction page with information primarily at the time of joining International Cities of Peace. For updates, please contact the liaison.
ABOUT
MANAAL RELIEF FOUNDATION
Manaal Relief Foundation- MRF was founded and legally registered in 2008 with the governments of Puntland State and Federal Republic of Somalia as a local non-profit women-led organization working to empower the young people, women leaders and communities through initiatives that promote a sustainable peace, culture of non-violence, conflict resolution and socio-economic development in Somalia.
Peace-building and Conflict Prevention: Nov-2015; MRF conducted Child Protection Training for 40 participants were trained among the beneficiaries were local Police officers, elders, Village committees, IDP committees, women/youth groups, religion sheikhs. The training objective was to mobilize the local communities from Garowe, Ayl and Dangorayo districts to actively participate and develop measures to tackle violence against children and young girls.
MRF’s programmes works towards addressing domestic violence, communal conflicts, election violence, and intra school violent strikes especially among high schools and universities, transform gang street youth violence and riots in cities to create alternatives to violence and peaceful resolution to conflict. MRF’ work address rampant incidences of domestic violence, SGBV, Human trafficking in persons-TIPs, child abuse and neglect.
VISION:
A world in which all people live in peace, equality, prosperity and have equal access to humanitarian and disaster relief aid, protection, justice, power, resources necessary to achieve their human potential.
MISSION:
Committed to promote youth, girls and women’s rights in peace, security, protection, social justice, resilience and sustainable development by empowering and capacity strengthening through advocacy, build resilience, reduce risk, peace building, education, training and socio-economic development.
Football for Peacebuilding in Garowe IDPs and Refugee Camps Project; This MRF’s Peacebuilding Initiative provides vital support for training, development new skills and coaching in soccer techniques for young people. MRF has a mission for peaceful world and it use Sports as a vehicle to educate youth and local communities by bringing together traditional and non-traditional football activities and environments;
-To inspire, innovate and offer opportunities to train youth in sports;
-To promote peaceful coexistence between youth of IDPs, refugees, and host communities.
As outcome results; Two youth groups of 23 young boys in a Garowe and Qardho IDPs, Refugee Camps became football warriors, finding hope in a football tournament for Peace.
GOALS:
• To address the root causes of violence and its effects among communities.
• Our Aims Is To Keep Peace And Development In Focus.
• Tackle Problems Emerging From Violence And All Forms Of Abuse.
• Providing Social and Legal Aid to Women Who Are Exposed To Abuse.
• Promote Peace, Social Development, Education And Innovation.
OBJECTIVES:
• To equip the young people with cotemporary skills for self help and employment,
• To provide direction for sustainable community development with aim of Encouraging the local people in involvement of their Peace programs.
• To educate the community on peace building and conflict resolution as one of the key pillar in the development process;
• To mobilize human, financial and other resources to support community initiatives and projects.
• To improve the welfare and living conditions of orphans and vulnerable children in schools and at household level.
• To support community project based initiatives like education, vocational and entrepreneur skills development, reproductive health, Agricultural development and Environmental Conservation.
• To research, document and disseminate information through trainings and publications on peace education, conflict prevention, management and resolution.
• To share knowledge and work experiences through networking and partnership engagements;
• To offer safe spaces for non violence and constructive dialogue,
• To promote faith values that support peaceful co-existence and respect for human lives.
• To advocate for women’s justice systems that promote fairness through engendered policies, inclusion and active participation.
• To provide Somali youth with basic relevant Peace education to empower them to improve their life and to influence their Families.
Youth Mobilization and Participation: Vocational skills training for youth and women empowerment. MRF established youth centers in Garoowe, Dangorayo and Badhan districts In Puntland and recently also launched a youth center in Dhusamareeb of Galmudug State, Somalia-2019. these centers consists of four departments, namely; Literacy “Numeracy”, Computer “IT”, Vocational skills “Internships and admin/finance Departments”.
-The objective of these Youth centers is to enhance education and training opportunities for the youth of Nugaal and Sanaag regions with emphasis on girls and disadvantaged groups (IDPs, refugees and minorities) and to enhance self-esteem and self–worth of the youth through empowering education and awareness rising on certain issues such as legal rights, EVAWS, GBV, HIV/AIDs and FGM/C.
MRF’s thematic areas in Peace-building:
Peace-building and Conflict Prevention;
MRF works on addressing the root causes of conflict, violence and its effects on communities by preventing through provision of early warning system, conflict resolution and peace education.
MRF’s CONFLICT PREVENTION AND PEACEBUILDING PROGRAM
Conflict, violence, insecurity and limited access to justice remain a major threat to sustainable development and have a destructive impact on a country’s development, with citizens bearing the burden of insecurity and injustice. Sustainable development goals cannot be achieved without peace, security and social justice.
In Somalia; 2.6 million People have been displaced, as conflict, insecurity, drought, and floods proliferate around the globe, often fueled by climate change, more and more people are forced to flee their homes, with the number of displaced people now at a record high. (UNHCR, 2016).
MRF provides support to young women, girls and youth to promote and protect their rights in Peace, Security and Justice, using the UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) on Women, Peace and Security as well as UNSCR 2250 and 2419 on Youth, Peace and Security as policy framework.
Our Conflict Prevention and Peace-building Program works in cohesion with young women, girls and youth of local displaced communities, IDPs, refugees and disadvantaged communities to raise their local voices in demanding better security, justice, sustainable peace and governance outcomes from local governments.
MRF empowers young women, girls and youth from conflict- and disaster-affected communities to be local leaders, peace-builders and climate change agents.
MRF’s Goal: Promote justice, peaceful and inclusive societies
We also work together with peace, security and justice sector, as well as with local communities and local civil society counter parts in Somalia and east Africa region. MRF also partnered local human rights defenders to provide legal aid and mediate conflicts.
Our work contributes directly to Sustainable Development Goals 5 and 16. MRF’s Conflict Prevention and Peace-building work and activities focuses on the following thematic area:
- Provision of Early Warning and Response System
- Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV)
- Conflict Resolution Skills Training
- Advocacy for Women’s rights in Peace and Security.
- Strengthening Girls and Women’s access to justice
- Good Governance
- Counter Violent Extremisms (CVE).
- Peace education, training and dialogue mediation
- Legal assistance and access to justice.
- Promoting non-violent conflict resolution mechanism
- Reintegration of Displaced Persons
MRF’s initiatives and activities also include the facilitation of conflict resolution meetings, dialogue forums, conducting training on peace building for local peace-builders and helps organize and facilitate conferences, peace exchanges that bring together local groups, local leaders, elders, and religious.
Our Programs and Projects on Women, Peace and Justice promotes feminist perspectives on peace and security by advocating for women’s participation, transforming gendered power, bridging local experience and gender analysis with global efforts and strengthening Women’s Access to Justice.
Achievements: See intro section.
ABOUT THE TEAM
Mrs. GULED, FARHIYA HUSSEIN
Mrs. Farhiyo is a young woman, professional in human rights defender, peace activist, humanitarian and Protection with Masters Degree in Political Science, in addition; she also pursuing her PhD in Human rights issues in Somalia at Islamic International University, Kuala lambur, Malaysia. She has solid experience in relief, integrated youth, women empowerment, human rights, gender local governance, peace building interventions and development.
She also has solid experience engaging women, youth and other marginalized groups to ensure their inclusion and participation with good understanding of drivers of violence, conflict and radicalization in the Sub-Saharan region context. She also has great experience in planning processes, performance management, monitoring and evaluation of public sector programs and/or projects, with a strong understanding of results-based management concepts. Furthermore, Mrs. Farihya is the current Program Coordinator-Justice, Peace and Security Programme of Manaal Relief Foundation, a non-profit, women-led local organization based in Puntland, Somalia.
LETTER OF INTENT
CONTACT INFORMATION
To contact and/or support this initiative:
ABOUT GAROWE, NUGAAL, SOMALIA (from Wikipedia)
Garowe is the capital of the Nugaal region and administrative capital of Puntland state in northern Somalia. Garowe is situated in the Nugaal Valley, bounded by gradually ascending high plateaus that generally reach elevations of 500 to 1,000 metres (1,600 to 3,300 feet) above sea level on the north, west, and south. The western part of the same plateau is crossed by numerous valleys and dry watercourses. Goat and camel raising form the basis of the economy, and frankincense and myrrh are collected from the wild trees.
Garowe is the third largest city in Puntland after Bosaso and Galkayo. Situated in the Nugaal province in the geographical center of the region, it is the seat of the regional parliament, the presidential palace and government ministries.
The broader Garowe District has an estimated total population of 190,000 residents. As with most of Puntland, it is primarily inhabited by Somalis from the Harti Darod clan confederation, in particular the Majerteen, Dhulbahante and leelkase Darood clans and the Meheri clan, as well as various sub clans of Madhiban tribe well represented
Note: If information or photos used here are copyrighted, please contact us and we will immediately delete the copyrighted material.
