Somalis in the Diaspora Rebuilding their Country Through Knowledge and Skills Transfer

Kismayo - Since his arrival Dr. Ahmed Ali has been on a mission to reshape neonatal care at the Kismayo General Hospital in Jubaland.

Dr. Ahmed   returned to Somalia in March 2020 through the Migration for Development in Africa (MIDA) initiative after more than 28 years living abroad. His return has been transformative. He has trained more than 20 midwives and junior medical officers since his arrival.

The MIDA initiative has been running in Somalia since 2008, with the first diaspora experts deployed in 2009. Since then, over 500 diaspora professionals from 18 countries, 165 Somali experts and 175 interns have participated in the initiative.

MIDA aims to strengthen the capacity of state institutions in Somalia through the recruitment of qualified professionals to work in various sectors such as health, education, immigration and border management, disaster and migrants’ rights facing gaps or a shortfall of personnel.

“The doctors and midwives I have trained and mentored have newfound confidence in their work and they have improved their performance,” said Dr. Ahmed.

Kismayo General Hospital serves as the primary referral public facility in Jubaland serving a high number of patients daily, many of them from remote and high-risk areas.

Somalia's public health system is constrained by inadequate health infrastructure, low institutional capacity, scarce facilities and supplies and a limited skilled workforce.

Dr. Omar, a seasoned pediatrician with licenses to practice in Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, made a similar decision to return to his roots.

“Somalia had not produced health professionals from the time the civil war broke out until more than a decade after, limiting the number of medical specialists available,” said Dr. Abdi, citing this as one of the reasons he decided to return home.

Deployed to the historic Demartino Hospital in the Banadir region through MIDA project in 2019, Dr. Omar assumed a lead role at the hospital’s pediatric department set up in the same year. Through mentorship and training, he has empowered junior doctors to diagnose and manage critical illnesses among children under five.

“I have learned a lot from Dr. Omar, from something so simple yet important like work ethics, such as being on time, being responsible and accountable and always striving to provide healthcare of high standards," said one of the mentees.

“I have also learned how to properly record patient history how to diagnose and manage complicated cases, as well as understanding the effectiveness of certain medications.”

Demartino Hospital has a rich history dating back a century. Constructed in 1922, the hospital has become one of the two referral public hospitals in Banadir region offering health care services free of charge to communities.

The education sector in Somalia faces significant challenges. Inadequate availability of qualified teachers is a pressing issue across the country, and even where teachers are trained and qualified, they may lack the skills, thus compromising the overall quality of education.

Addressing these challenges is Dr. Ali Warsame, a Somali form Norway whose wealth of experience in educational systems, curriculum development and research coupled with a philosophy doctorate in education and development.

Dr. Warsame has been the Formal Education and Technical Advisor in the Ministry of Education in Puntland since 2021 where he has focused on knowledge transfer and training of Ministry staff and in-service teachers.

Through comprehensive teacher training sessions, he has empowered 155 lower secondary in-service teachers with modern teaching methods emphasizing the principle of student-centered learning, classroom planning and effective pedagogic teaching.

Dr. Warsame was the co-organizer of the Puntland Education Conference, contributing to a comprehensive communique outlining priorities for improving the education system. He underscores the profound impact of skills and knowledge transfer, “as the greatest gift for the Somali people today.”

Tasnim Dirie has become a role model for her female students, inspiring them to pursue careers in academia. She returned to Somalia in 2019 from Netherlands through the Connecting Diaspora for Development (CD4D) Programme. Today, she supports the Somali National University as a science lecturer and while also continuing her work with the MIDA project.

With a goal to align laboratory procedures with international standards, she created a laboratory quality manual and health and safety guidelines.

"I did not want to compromise the health and safety of the students given the risk of laboratory hazards," she explained.

Tansim has also played a pivotal role in enhancing the faculty's capacity. Under her guidance, they have become proficient at producing scientific reports and research papers that meet international standards and guidelines.

 “Some of these submissions even reached academic partners in other countries for review. Despite limited resources, the lecturers at SNU demonstrated unwavering commitment to improving learning, while the students were eager to progress.”

The contribution of the Somali diaspora experts in rebuilding the country has been important especially through transfer of their skills and knowledge, demonstrating the positive impact of migration and migrants as the world celebrates International Migrants Day.