1998-1999 IPR Activities

To: Members of the International Board of Advisors

From: Ahmed H. Esa

Subject: IPR Activities Update

Now that IPR has completed its first full year of operation, it is time to update our international board of advisors on IPR’s activities.

IPR was launched with a bang on October 20, 1998, on the occasion of its First Conference on Reconstruction Strategies and the Challenges beyond Rehabilitation in Hargeisa. We organized the 4-day conference to bring together international and Somali experts on post-war reconstruction, conflict resolution and the creation of appropriate governance. The conference, co-sponsored with the Complex Political Emergencies (C.O.P.E.) project of the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University, Brighton, U.K., attracted nearly two hundred participants and created huge interest and good will within Somaliland. In April 999, IPR published a ‘policy paper’ summarizing recommendations from the conference. A copy of the paper is attached for your reference. In response to numerous requests to hold a second “reconstruction” conference, we plan a follow-up conference on post-war reconstruction for SUMMER 2000. This Conference will not only allow for the examination of economic and political developments in a society emerging out of conflict, but also will be a festival to celebrate peace and reconciliation.

In March of 1999, IPR moved into new premises and established the first functioning documentation center in Somalia. IPR’s new center has reference material and equipment to support local researchers and students, and has a dedicated section on Somaliland and Somalia. This section will assemble and archive valuable documents now scattered throughout the world. We are particularly grateful to the international program “Good Books for All” and Somali residents in Ottawa for their donations of current textbooks and reference material.

In October 1998, IPR received a grant from the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) to conduct research on landmines in Somalia, Somaliland and Djibouti for the annual “Landmine Monitor”. Three research papers prepared by IPR appeared in the 1999 edition, a 1000-page book that was released on May 1, 1999. IPR’s work on landmines will expand significantly next year. For the 2000 edition of the “Landmine Monitor”, IPR will coordinate research for the entire Horn of Africa region (Somalia/Somaliland, Sudan, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Uganda). This list includes some of the world’s most mine-affected countries, and countries where landmines may still be actively deployed.

We were also pleased to receive a grant from the Open Society Institute (SOROS FOUNDATION) to organize Horn of Africa Region workshops on the menace of landmines. The first landmines workshop was held November 23-24 for 45 delegates from the Horn of Africa countries of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia and Somaliland and representatives of United Nations agencies, international and local non-governmental organizations, government officials and members of the Somaliland parliaments. IPR will continue research on landmines and is preparing three more articles for “Landmine Monitor 2000”, which will be issued in Geneva next summer.

On another front, IPR received two grants from the US government’s Democracy and Human Rights Fund (DHRF), to provide training for local journalists in Somaliland on freedom of the press issues and to hold a workshop for Somaliland legislators and justice ministry staff on separation of power and comparative governance. The journalism training was successfully completed on September 30, 1999. IPR engaged an experienced journalist from Radio Deutsche Welle, Caroline Stiebler, to provide intensive training to journalists from the Independent Hargeisa TV, the daily “Jamhuuriya” newspaper, the weekly English language “Republican” newspaper and the government-owned Radio Hargeisa and “Maandeeq” newspaper. On September 30, twenty-two journalists successfully completed training in the “essence of journalism: ethics, newsgathering, newsreporting and investigative reporting” and received diplomas from IPR. We hope to continue these important and highly needed training activities. To properly reflect this added mission, we renamed IPR The Institute for Practical Research and Training.

In the summer of 1999, IPR welcomed its first international student visitors. Sahra Ali Abaas and Nicholas Wadell, students at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) of Sussex University (UK), elected to do their summer internships at IPR. The students examined the effects of micro lending programs on poor women, and Somaliland’s experiment with decentralization. A graduate student from the University of Minnesota intends to join IPR to do research for a dissertation on post-war reconstruction next year. A researcher from the French Center Nationale de Recherche Scientifique, Gerard Prunier, and a free-lance journalist, Patrick Lagés, will visit IPR in January 2000. Dr. Prunier will study governance issues and Mr. Lagés will prepare, in collaboration with IPR, a book of photographs on life in Somalia and Somaliland.

What is in IPR’s future? IPR is still a young organization. Although we have enough projects for the coming year, most are of short duration. We have not thus far attempted to raise development funds beyond these specific projects. A number of research proposals prepared and considered by us to be of high priority and value remain un-funded. These include two projects on health (HIV/AIDS baseline survey and surveillance, and water quality and safety monitoring). Recently, the United Nations Development Office for Somalia (UNDOS) in Nairobi approached IPR to form a partnership in training and research. We are particularly interested in the large number of documents UNDOS holds in Nairobi, and the geographical information system (GIS) database also currently housed in Nairobi. Discussions are still ongoing between IPR and UNDOS, but we are confident that we will be able, at minimum, to receive copies of UNDOS documents on Somalia.

The lack of regular postal services is a major constraint limiting IPR’s ability to function smoothly. While telephone and fax services are adequate, they are expensive. Internet access would provide us with a revolutionary leap forward. We are, therefore, searching for ways to connect IPR to the Internet. The “Landmine Monitor “grant provides us with operating funds for eventual Internet use, but so far there is no Internet access in Somaliland except for those within the UN system. IPR has prepared a project proposal and is now gathering a number of local NGOs to examine the possibility of establishment and cost sharing of an Internet node in Somaliland.

All in all, IPR had a very good inauguration year. In the next few months, we will focus on fundraising and staff development. In February, Mr. Mohamed Haji Rabbi, a former professor of the now destroyed National University of Somalia and author of many books and articles on the structure of the Somali language, will join IPR as an academic advisor to coordinate the work of visiting scholars and students. We are, however, constrained by lack of operating funds and longer-term projects. Attracting donors for projects in Somalia has been very difficult. We very much look forward to your guidance and advice. We would particularly appreciate suggestions on potential donors. If you would like to approach donors on IPR’s behalf and need more information or documentation, please let us know.

Thank you for your consideration. We will keep you abreast of all developments on a timely basis.

Publications 1999-2000

1. April 15, 1999: Recommendations from the First Conference on Reconstruction Strategies and the Challenges beyond Rehabilitation

2. May 1, 1999: Landmines in Somalia, In the Annual Landmine Monitor (LM 1999).

3. May 1, 1999: Landmines in Djibouti, LM 1999

4. May 1, 1999: Landmines in Somaliland, LM 1999

5. January 25, 2000: Proceedings from the Workshop on the Menace of Landmines in the Horn of Africa.

Forthcoming Publications in 2000:

1. Comprehensive Surveys on FGM Prevalence and FGM-Related Complications in Djibouti.

2. IPR has prepared three articles on landmines for the Landmine Monitor Year 2000, which will be released in September. The three articles will update IPR’s 1999 research in Somalia, Somaliland, and Djibouti.

3. In collaboration with Africa Periscope Communications of the UK, IPR will produce a special issue of the African Topics Magazine. This special will come out in July and will cover post-war reconstruction challenges in Somaliland/Somalia.