Issue

Issue

Action

Action

Impact

Impact

Child protection

Child protection

HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS

Female genital mutilation

Female genital mutilation

Youth development

Youth development

Communication for development

Communication for development

 

Youth development

© UNICEF Somalia/03-126-Pirozzi

Members of Circus Somaliland perform their act during the Day of the African Child celebrations in 2003. UNICEF has been supporting youth through training in leadership and sports and has been encouraging their participation in decision-making processes

UNICEF has, to date, supported about 200 community-based groups across Somalia to provide better life options for the highly disadvantaged Somali youth, both young girls and boys.

These youth groups are run as ‘youth organizations’ and established through the ‘Leadership and Organizational Development’ training and capacity building activities that are being run.
 
An increasing number of young girls and boys have been involved in sports, recreation and other constructive activities, and additional playgrounds have been rehabilitated and equipped for their use. Across Somalia, young people have been participating in tournaments, football matches and cultural programmes organized around the themes of peace, promoting immunization, preventing HIV/AIDS, and eradicating Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Particular effort is made to reach girls, with the result that more young girls are starting to participate in the sports and recreational programmes.

Non-formal education

A non-formal education (NFE) package has been completed by UNICEF. It includes curriculum, syllabus, learner modules and teachers' guides for numeracy, literacy, science, social studies and life skills (including sexually-transmitted infections (STIs), HIV/AIDS, FGM and other critical areas).

The package offers learning opportunities for semiliterate and non-literate out-of-school youth with learning levels equivalent to formal primary education. This package can also be used for functional adult literacy programmes, as is being demonstrated by a current pilot project with a women’s group in the Asker Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp, Bossaso, Northeast Somalia (Puntland).

This new NFE programme is planned to reach about 3,000 youth throughout the country. It has been launched with the support of  national and international partners.

UNICEF’s strategy for developing and implementing a holistic youth education, development and protection programme includes providing vocational education, skills development and psycho-social care. These activities are being developed in close partnership with other stakeholders, particularly the youth groups themselves.