COVID-19 and Sustainable Development in Somalia/Somaliland: Phase 2 Report
A field-driven study capturing lived experiences of COVID-19 in Somalia/Somaliland reveals deep structural inequalities in healthcare access, governance response, and social inclusion.
Introduction
Somalia/Somaliland is among the places of the world least able to cope with COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) due to numerous forms of poverty-related deprivation, low levels of access to health care and limited state capacity. Before this crisis struck it was already a long way from having sustainable development. COVID-19 and responses to it threaten to undermine what Somalia/Somaliland has achieved in development.
In this project we examined how sustainable development might be promoted during, through and as a method of COVID-19 response in Somalia/Somaliland. We did so though discussions with people in Mogadishu (capital of Somalia) and Hargeisa (capital of Somaliland). By sustainable development we mean the enhancement of lives, livelihoods and inclusion for current and future generations so that they can live the lives they value in ways that allow the natural world to flourish. In 1991, Somaliland unilaterally declared its independence from Somalia. It has been self-governing ever since but has not achieved international recognition as a sovereign state; this status is why we refer to Somalia/Somaliland where relevant.
The people we spoke with were mainly those who in some way are excluded from full participation in their society due to illiteracy, gender, youth, being a member of a minority clan or minority ethnic group, or being a low caste worker, rural pastoralist, informal small trader, internally displaced or a refugee from another country. Sometimes an aspect of exclusion such as gender is counterbalanced by an aspect of inclusion such as higher income. However, often aspects of exclusion intersect and reinforce each other, such as low income, internal displacement and illiteracy. We also discussed these issues with some people in more privileged positions – government health, employment and inclusion (e.g. women’s rights) officials and senior or middle ranking telecommunications company staff. The idea of talking with people from diverse backgrounds was to see the issues from many different perspectives and to provide a platform for those who usually are not listened to due to exclusion.
This report is based on the second phase of work for this project. For details of our overall methodology for Phase 1 and Phase 2 and for our Phase 1 findings please see our initial report on the Transparency Solutions website in English and Somali.
For Phase 2 we carried out a series of three interviews and focus group discussions with the forty participants (twenty in Mogadishu and twenty in Hargeisa) during July 2020. The health and safety of all researchers and participants in relation to COVID-19 was ensured by use of non-face-to-face methods only, i.e. telephone and online.
Keywords
- COVID-19; sustainable development; Somalia; Somaliland; health system access; social exclusion; pandemic response; community perceptions