CIAO DATE: 05/2015
Volume: 14, Issue: 0
May 2015
Magool: The Inimitable Nightingale of Somali Music (PDF)
Bashir Goth
True to these seminal lines of Yusuf Xaji Adan Qabile, Magool has blos- somed ever since, destined to enthrall the Somali-speaking peoples of the Horn of Africa and beyond with her captivating voice over the next forty-plus years...never to be silenced as long as a person who speaks Somali lives on the face of the earth.
Ruth M. Smith
Dumarka Soomaaliyeed Voices Unveiled (DSVU) is a narrative partici- patory photography project that engaged young Somali women in photography and storytelling to create an exhibit exploring partici- pants’ experiences of being Muslim Somali women in the diaspora. This method was developed by participants throughout the course of the project and has roots in participatory action research methodology as well as other arts initiatives within the Somali diaspora. This article will define narrative participatory photography and offer a framework for future arts-based research initiatives within the diaspora. I will situate this project among other arts initiatives in the Somali dias- pora as important sites for the research of Somali experiences of dia- sporic identity. Finally, a photo-essay of selected work from the exhibit offers an example of this methodology at work and presents the way in which this research study engages cultural and religious identity amongst young Somali women in the diaspora.
Disclaiming the Diaspora: Somali Forced Migrants in Cairo and "the Other Abroad" (PDF)
Faduma Abukar Mursal
The concept of diaspora has attracted much attention in the scholarly debate on migration, and has also entered into public discourse, even being appropriated by migrants themselves.[2] For instance, the term diasborada is now part of the Somali vocabulary, referring not only to a named phenomenon integral to Somali realities but to a particular group of people. It refers specifically to Somali migrants who have mobilized themselves as a political formation under the label “dias- pora” to negotiate their role as agents of social change.[3] Further, claims of Somali migrants have gained recognition in Somalia, where people apply this social category to them. [4]
The Failed-State Paradigm and Implications for Politics and Practices of International Security (PDF)
Mohamed Omar Hashi
From the 1940s to the 1970s, the world witnessed considerable and tumultuous change. This change was, on the one hand, based on the independence realized by the territories that European empires had controlled during the colonial era. On the other hand, just as the strug- gle against colonial rule ended, new conflicts erupted in many of these newly independent nations. In contrast to the colonial era, after the cul- mination of the Cold War, which reshaped the world order, the number of newly independent states unable to fulfill their obligations to their citizens increased. Such failures became apparent as states failed to provide a certain level of functions that would ensure both the security and the well-being of their respective populations. Although such cri- ses of statehood are often depicted as mainly internal in nature, 1 their roots and ramifications transcend the intrastate and are often ignored in the literature.
Local Universities and Employment Opportunities in Somaliland (PDF)
Abdirahaman Adan Mohamoud
Every year, a series of graduation ceremonies are organized at the local institutions of higher learning in Somaliland, where hundreds of new graduates emerge from the local universities. The main fields of study at the universities often overlap. Business administration, manage- ment, education, law, economics, ICT, and, to a lesser extent, medicine and engineering are the largest concentration areas.
Developing a Somali Dictionary Application (PDF)
Nick Thieberger, Nadia Faragaab
New technologies offer access to unprecedented amounts of informa- tion and, while the equitable cost of access has been a major problem for distribution of such information, which is now changing. Mobile devices are becoming cheaper so more people from a wider range of backgrounds and speaking a wider range of languages are using the Internet. Support for the many less commonly spoken languages of the world has become a focus in the academic discipline of linguistics. This includes developing a presence for these languages on the web and in mobile devices. This brief report discusses one such example: the Somali-English Dictionary application (app), released in June 2014 by a Melbourne, Australia, team headed by the Somali artist Nadia Faragaab.
Editor's Note (PDF)
Ahmed I. Samatar
I begin this brief note by wishing all of our readers a new year that brings great blessings to all! The contents of this volume range from an arresting and commemorative essay on the life of one of the most mag- nificent of all Somali fannaaniin , Halimo Khalif (Magool), to women in the diaspora, to specific recommendations for addressing the wor- risome issue of job creation for the many young graduates from the universities in Somaliland—the latter a phenomenon so conspicu- ously observable among the Somali youth in every part of the Horn of Africa.