HelsinkI(INO)-Mohamed Abdullahi Mursal and Abdulkadir Shariif Sheekhuna, both ministers for Southewestern Somilia visited Finland from September 7-13. The visit was funded by Finnfund, a Finnish development finance company. The purpose of the visit was to scope out potential entrepreneurial partnerships and to exchange information with different Finnish stakeholders.
An important feature of the visit was also to meet with Finnish civil society organizations that currently operate development cooperation projects in Somalia. Batulo Essak, Chair and one of the founding members of African Care, met twice with the ministers during their stay in Finland. The meetings took place at the facilities of Kanava Nuoriso ry.
Currently, African Care operates three development cooperation projects in Southern Somalia. One of the most prominent projects is a maternity clinic and training center that was founded in 2012. The center is the only healthcare facility in the region that offers services to women around the clock. Each month, the maternity clinic provides healthcare services for over 1500 women. Around 120 babies are born at the clinic each month and all of them are provided with birth certificates.
African Care’s also coordinates Yasmin, a development project that operates women’s resource centers in cooperation with Banadir Women Development Organization (BWDO). The resource centers are located Mogadishu and in the Afgoye region in Southern Somalia. At the resource centers, women are taught basic writing and reading skills and math. They also learn professional skills such as handicraft, IT-skills, accounting and marketing that aim to incentivize entrepreneurship.
Because of the recent government cuts to Finnish development cooperation projects and Civil Society organizations, the only development project in Somalia that African Care can sustain is called Haweenka – Somali women in decision making. Haweenka is a project that emphasizes women’s political agency and participation through educational workshops and by forming local women’s groups. The project is realized in cooperation with WILPF Finland and BWDO and aims specifically to impact the 2016 federal elections in Somalia by launching a Vote for a woman! –campaign.
The meetings between African Care Chair Batulo Essak and the Southwestern Somali ministers is testimony to the significance and importance of African Care’s work in Southern Somalia. In a region slain by warfare, the reconstruction of society mandates sustained support for the rights or girls and women. The goal of African Care’s Development Projects is to provide a multifaceted platform of support for girls, women and thus their families. By guaranteeing access to healthcare, education and political participation, girls and women build a society that protects their sovereignty and equal opportunity.
Source:
Idale News Online, HelsinkI, Finland
