The Somali diaspora, options for post-conflict reconstruction

Broadly, the diaspora is defined as a group or groups of people who are dispersed from their homeland.

With the transition process having come to an end and a semblance of normality returning to Somalia, the priority remains how to stabilise the country and promote national reconstruction. For a country that suffers from multifaceted security challenges and lacking basic functioning institutions, the effort to rebuild livelihoods is not going to be easy and will require support. Importantly, this support will have to come from Somalis themselves.

A group that is expected to play a crucial role in Somalia’s reconstruction process is the 14 per cent of the country’s population who live outside their homeland.1 Broadly, the diaspora is defined as a group or groups of people who are dispersed from their homeland, for example refugees, or who leave their homeland in search of work, in pursuit of trade or to further colonial ambitions.       

Author: Mashaka Lewela