Introduction & Background
Somalia is a country in Eastern Africa. It borders Kenya and Ethiopia to the west and the Gulf of Aden and Djibouti to the north. To the southeast of Somalia, there is the Indian Ocean. With its 3,025-meter coastline, Somalia is the African country with the longest coastline. According to Graf, “Most of Somalia is dry grassland and desert” (Graf 2011: 7). Yet, the scarcity of the natural resources has not been the major problem of Somalia for years. As Farah observes, “Somalia remains the only country in the world where a properly functioning government and state does not exist” (Farah 2009: 1). Indeed, in Somalia there is not a single unifying political authority that could exercise both internal and external sovereignty and legitimacy. Instead of this, the country is ruled by multiple authorities and sub-authorities engaged in fierce competition.
Historically, Somalia became a politically independent state in 1960. Yet, the civilian system of government did not last long. In the end of 1960s, Somalia suffered from clan-based warfare and a bloody coup of 1969. After the central authority was seized by the Military Junta, the decades of stability and peace followed. However, since 1985 the authority of the central administration had been weakening until the military regime collapsed in 1991. Since that time, the country has been in turmoil, anarchy, and factional fighting. Lacking a government for over two decades, Somalia did not manage to restore its political shape and position on the globe even after 16 national reconciliation conferences were held that attempted to settle the situation in Somalia. Somalia remains a war-torn society, where peace and stability, if they are, tend to be “in areas where local negotiations with political powerbrokers have led to limited spaces of security” (Hammond et al 2011: 13). As Farah (2009: 7) describes it, “Somalia is a dead and failed State politically, economically, environmentally, socially, militarily, morally, materially, mentally, and even human resource,” with constant human loss.
However, there turns out at least one field in which Somalia is an example to other developing countries of the world. This is the way the country uses diaspora for both its economic survival and nation-building. As Hammond (2012) says, “Remittances of up to 2 bn a year from Somalis living abroad would suggest the diaspora is crucial to country survival.” This becomes evident especially as one takes into consideration the fact that the humanitarian idea provided externally is insufficient to resolve the constant economic crisis. In this context, the bare survival of Somalis depends overwhelmingly on the remittances from their family members among the diaspora
Research Aims & Objectives
Given rich evidence of the diaspora role in providing Somalia’s economic survival and nation development, more research is needed in this area. As the question of the role of African diasporas in the development of various African countries has become the prominent one in the scholarly discussion, more attention needs to be paid to Somalia in particular. It needs to be said that some studies have already focused on the impacts of the Somalia diaspora on the country development, yet they focused on particular issues. Respectively, there is a paucity of the qualitative research that would summarize the results of the involvement of the diaspora in Somalia’s development and define its role in the current economic, social, and political situation of the country.
Recognizing that examining the involvement of Somalia diaspora in its development helps to understand the role of the diaspora in the country’s nation building, the research aim has been stated in the following way:
To determine the positive impact of the diaspora on Somalia development in a variety of spheres.
In order to achieve the stated aim of the research, a set of objectives have been formed:
To describe the Somalia diaspora across the globe, their numbers and locations
To explore the remittances of the diaspora to Somalia, i.e. how much they remit
To explore how these remittances contribute to the socio-economic development of Somalia
To examine other cases of help of diaspora in a variety of spheres (knowledge transfer, etc).
Methodology
This paper employs a qualitative research approach. It uses the method of summary, analysis, and synthesis of the secondary data. Data collection in the proposed research is purposive; the data collection procedure will involve working with the credible resources that are available on this issue including academic books, scholarly journals, scholarly reports, online news reports, etc.
When using the secondary data for analysis, careful evaluation will be employed. Potential biases of the sources will be weighed, and an attitude of “health scepticism” will be adopted. The conclusions will be drawn on the basis of the evidence justification. At the same time, the use of numerous sources of information will be “the best defence against being misled” (Stewart & Kamins 1993).
Literature Review
The literature review will be based on a variety of up-to-date pertinent sources. The scope of printed and online sources will be used to summarize, analyse, and synthesize the information and identify the patterns of the diaspora impact on the socio-economic situation in Somalia and determine the extent of its positive impact on the country’s development.
- Farah, O 2011, Diaspora involvement in the development of Somalia, viewed 27 October 2014, http://vbn.aau.dk/files/16987635/diiper_wp_13.pdf.
- Farah, Q 2011, Revitalization of Somalia. AuthorHouse.
- Graf, M 2002, Somalia. Capstone.
- Hammond, L 2012, What role for the diaspora in Somalia’s future? The Guardian, viewed 27 October 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2012/feb/20/what-role-somalia-diaspora-rebuilding.
- Hammond L et al 2011, Cash and Compassion: The Role of the Somali Diaspora in Relief, Development and Peacebuilding. UN Development Programme (UNDP), viewed 27 October 2014, http://www.refworld.org/docid/4f61b12d2.html.
- Stewart, D & Kamins, A 1993, Evaluating secondary sources, viewed 27 October 2014, http://www.uk.sagepub.com/gray3e/study/chapter5/Book%20chapters/Evaluating_Secondary_Sources.pdf.
