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The War-torn Societies Project in Somaliland

1999-10-22

[Photo: Remnants of Somalia's civil war.]

The town of Hargeisa in northwest Somalia does not fit the image that is typically portrayed of this war-ravaged country. While clan-based militias fight raging gun battles and all forms of government have collapsed in southern Somalia, things are different here in the capital of the self-declared but internationally unrecognized Republic of Somaliland.

Men sit at sidewalk tea shops talking or listening to the radio, women hunt for bargains on gold jewellery, business people carry mobile phones, and the only visible guns are in the hands of the president's bodyguards. Although Hargeisa was flattened by the former dictator Siad Barre's bombing raids, the people have reconstructed their town and rebuilt peace.

WSP goals

One agency trying to play a role in this recovery process is the War-torn Societies Project (WSP) — an initiative established by the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development and the Geneva Graduate Institute of International Studies, with funding from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and 27 other donors. WSP's mandate is to help societies emerging from conflict identify the problems they face and develop solutions in the form of policy options.

Since 1995, WSP staff have completed projects in Guatemala, Eritrea, and Mozambique. Funded in part by IDRC, the Somali program was launched in 1997, beginning in the northeastern 'state' of Puntland and spreading to the northwest in 1998. In Somaliland, WSP works in partnership with the Somaliland Centre for Peace and Development (SCPD). "Our goal is to influence policy makers in the government and the international community," says Mohamed Abdi Mohamud, SCPD Administrator in Hargeisa.

Participatory action research

The WSP Somali program is based on participatory action research. In recent months, a five-person research team (including one female member) has travelled across Somaliland asking questions around five themes — politics, economics, social rebuilding, gender issues, and culture — in order to sketch a 'self-portrait' of the region. The WSP research technique "is very productive here because the society is an oral society," says Mohamud. "The team has managed to get quite a lot of feedback from the field trips. The challenging part is how to absorb it all."

Among the preliminary findings, the researchers are hearing that people are concerned about issues like regional equity, the process of decentralization, and popular participation in the decision making process. This fall, the team's research report will be translated into Somali and presented to working-group sessions representing the government, elders, the private sector, and key people from the regions. Participants will discuss whether the portrait is an accurate one and try to achieve consensus on a final document by the end of 1999.

Rebuilding tool

But the point of this exercise is not just to conduct research for its own sake. The ultimate goal is to use research as a rebuilding tool — a bridge that transmits the aspirations of the community to decision makers. The WSP/SCPD team believes that its work will indirectly contribute to reconciliation by de-politicizing divisive issues.

Toward this end, the team strives to develop and maintain good relations with key figures in society. That's why the strength of geographical and clan ties in Somaliland had to be considered when hiring researchers. The WSP's broad-based research team helps ensure that the views of each region are fairly represented and gives the project local credibility.

Unique environment

For the War-torn Societies Project, the Somali territories represent a unique environment: the world's only collapsed state. "The degree and scope of the disintegration of the former Somali Republic was probably without parallel," notes an interim report on this project, adding that the country provides "a formidable, perhaps decisive testing ground" for the WSP methodology.

According to Matt Bryden, the WSP Somali Program Coordinator, the fledgling administration in Somaliland faces major challenges: it is financially strapped, as little international assistance flows toward an unrecognized government and the scope for tax revenue is limited. He explains that the Somaliland economy is almost totally dependent on livestock exports to Saudi Arabia, which were banned for 18 months until May 1999 because of concerns about Rift Valley fever.

Supportive populace

"The authorities must battle for every dollar of revenue," stresses Bryden. Meanwhile, the administration spends 70 per cent of its budget on the security forces as a way of employing demobilized militiamen. Despite this, the peaceful streets of Hargeisa suggest that the people generally support their leaders' efforts at creating a government out of nothing. "It is a state in the making," he concludes.

Mike Crawley is a Canadian journalist who visited Somalia for the Gemini News Service on a fellowship funded by IDRC. (Photo: M. Crawley)

Resource Person:

Matt Bryden, WSP Somali Program Coordinator, c/o UNRISD, Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland; Tel: (254-2) 449128 (Nairobi, Kenya); Email: Bryden@unrisd.org

Assessing the Peace and Conflict Impact of Development Projects, by Keane Shore

Lessons Learned from the War-torn Societies Project, by Kelly Cryderman

Reconstructing War-Torn Societies, by Jennifer Pepall

The War-torn Societies Project in Eritrea, by John Eberlee

The War-torn Societies Project in Guatemala, by John Eberlee

Canada and Missions for Peace: Lessons from Nicaragua, Cambodia, and Somalia

From Defence to Development: Redirecting Military Resources in South Africa

Peacebuilding and Reconstruction Program Initiative

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