Transforming Somalia into a better place and promoting stability is one of the primary objectives that the Somali government, national and international NGOs are concentrating to their efforts on these days. As the result of longtime political unrest, clan rivalries, terrorism, and violent insurgency, many people have lost their lives, economic growth has been held back, and the country continues to be politically unstable. As well, there are a lot of youth who have been unable to obtain a formal education. Due to the chaos of the last decades, many youths have not been able to work their arable lands, rear their livestock or go to schools. Powerful warlords are denying to them access to their basic needs. For the consequences of all kinds of the transgressions over the youths resulted lastly, the youths to be part of the problem and get a variety of different kinds of ammunitions.
Now, the Somali government and its allies are liberating new areas every day and many youths are surrendering to the government. Those who took part in the fighting and the civil unrest, as well as vagrant and street children, may have special economic, livelihood, and psycho-social needs. The violence even affected youth who didn’t take part in the fighting and abstained from going to school or work due to intimidation.
The INGOs, LNGOs, and the Somali government established rehabilitation centers with schools where youth are trained in marketable skills to integrate into the community again in a peaceful manner. This vocational skills training (VST) can contribute to the restoration of the livelihoods of all the youths and to economic development. During their training they are taught different skills, including but not limited to; plumbing, electricity, mechanics, tailoring, cooking, mobile repairing, computer skills, entrepreneurship and basic calculation courses, while tie and die, henna and beautification are reserved for young females only. Therefore, if the youth are committed to going back to school and work, obviously they can change the living standards of many households, lessen the incidence of crime and strengthen social cohesion.
This informal education can help those who are old enough to sit in the formal schools and they are a large in number. If the rehabilitation centers are equipped with the necessary equipment and qualified trainers, learning marketable skills can help youth contribute to both economic development and stability. Currently, the VST and TVET (Technical Vocational Education and Training) centers across the country are very few in number. They are managed by NGOs and every minute they can be shut down due to a lack of funding. Skills are vital for poverty reduction, economic recovery, and sustainable development, especially for the post-conflict countries like Somalia.
Certainly, the capacity building of youth through vocational training can transform our country into a better place in the near future. Youth have the energy, greatest enthusiasm for change, and the ambition to increase their knowledge. The only thing they need is mentorship and a chance to do something great in a short a period. All kinds of these skills can lead the youth to the path of prosperity for their country, increasing our resilience, contributing to the gross national product (GNP), and self-sufficiency. With the income from these skills, youth would reinvest in the farms they left years ago and livestock while this would create direct and indirect jobs for other youths.
There is an important subject that is not taught in the Somali schools which scholars believe that if the subject is not commenced and taught the youth won’t be able to be patriots and take part in the reconstruction of their country. This subject is civic education, is important for promoting democracy and good governance. If these two are improved, this will be an antidote to youth immigration and violence. Lastly, there is no development when there is no youth development because, youth are the only people that can transform the things that are broke, lousy or bad into something better. Thus, their education, health, and creativity is very essential to development and resilience.
