Sam+-+ASID+-+SP13

Hirsi Magan Isse (scholar, political activist, military veteran and played a major role in the Somali revolution)
 * __ Name: __**

__**Country & Issue:**__ Somalia, economic crisis

__** Geography: **__ Isse represents the country of Somalia. Somalia is a country that is in the easternmost part of Africa and in the southern part of Africa, the area it is located in is commonly referred to as the Horn of Africa. Somalia’s land is mostly composed of flat land, plateaus, plains and mountains in the northern part of the country. The weather is very hot throughout the year besides the northern mountainous regions, rainfall is also very sparse here. Due to the terrible conditions for livestock, nomadic pastoralism is practiced by half the countries population, the travel until they find fresh pasture for the animals to graze on. The countries primary natural resources are uranium and largely unexploited reserves of iron ore, tin, gypsum, bauxite, copper, salt and natural gas.

__** Population: **__ The population of Somalia is approximately 9.5 million people.

__** Economy: **__ The economy is Somalia’s greatest problem. The poor economy is causing poverty in Somalia, those who aren’t in poverty have become pirates and criminals. Somalia’s primary source of income is from piracy. They made most of their money last year from taking people hostage until they got paid a ransom.

__** Social Structure: **__ Somalia’s social structure consists of clans and subclans. These clans are used to gain land, water, resources, protection and political power.

__** Background information of Hirsi Magan Isse: **__ He was a scholar and a political leader in the Somali revolution, he also served in the military He was imprisoned from 1972-1975 because he was seen as a threat to the new president, he escaped in 1975 and fled to Saudi Arabia. Isse was also married four times and had a total of five daughters and one son. Isse is a respected political leader that will be respected and listened to. __**References:**__ Three references that would support my case are UNICEF, African Union (AU) and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (the president of Somalia). UNICEF support me greatly because UNICEF is currently has many posts in our country and are helping are people in the sever famine we are in. The reason UNICEF would support me is because UNICEF is helping us and they are in the middle of the violence, UNICEF would love for me to receive the prize and put and end to the violence. The AU would support me because the AU seeks peace and order within all of Africa. I am going to get the economy out of this slump that it is in and doing so will lessen the amount of violent acts such as piracy. And finally the president of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, would support me because he wants what will benefit Somalia in any way, and that is what I will do for Somalia, improve their status in all aspects of a successful country.

__**Safety and Rule of Law:**__ The weak economy is causing events like piracy to happen. These acts of piracy result in a lot of violence and an innumerable amount of laws are being broken (Violent Crime). The safety of the citizens is being put at risk with all the violence in Somalia (Safety of the Person). There are both (political refugees) and IDPs (internally displaced people) in Somalia. “ There are currently more than 600,000 Somalis displaced by years of conflict and by recurring natural disasters such as the severe flooding that struck the south of the country in November.” Isse will use the money to get these people back to their homelands without the fear of dying everyday.

Humans Rights in the Somali region are currently irrelevant. There is no such thing to these people. This is definitely a governmental concern that should be dealt with by them, but once again this leads back to our economy. Our government has no one to enforce the law because they can’t pay for a police force. The government doesn’t have the money to make laws giving human’s their rights back. Another thing is that if we show that our economy can make a comeback and that we can live on our own organizations, such as UNICEF may come to our aid and help us gain control over the citizens, in effect restoring rights for individuals, but only after the weapons are put down. To reiterate, the government has laws against the violation of humans rights, but they do not have the money to enforce them. ONe last thing is that “violence and discrimination against women, including genital mutilation, are common.” Obviously “ the rape of women by militia and bandits is a problem,” but unfortunately “there are no laws against spousal rape.” My plan is to draw immediate attention to people that will help us get laws made to prevent this. There are certainly people out there who care about this and want to make a difference it’s just the matter of getting them to know what’s going. And that is where the money from the Mo Ibrahim foundation comes into play. The money received for this prize will go a long way for us and it all starts with the improvement of our economy.
 * __ Participation and Human ____ Rights: __**

__** Sustainable Economic ** ** Opportunity: **__ With a better economy we would have more available jobs. The awful economy is what is dragging the entire nation down. The economy is causing all the problems within Somalia. People go into the piracy business because they feel they have no other option, they feel that piracy is the only way that they can make money to eat. With $5 million to put towards businesses we could create a lot more jobs for the people of Somalia. There is a decent amount of natural resources in Somalia that could be exported if we had the equipment to do it. Once these businesses get going we will improve as a country in our economy. The income from the businesses will allow our government to make laws about employment like a minimum wage for example. With this economic growth, our ratio of budget deficit compared to our GDP will increase without a doubt, thus creating an economy that would be sustainable.

**__Human Development:__** There will be an extreme improvement in the rate of human development. Somalia’s citizens are malnourished and starving because of a lack of money. Time Magazine states that, “A full 2.8 million people, 63% of the region's population, were either starving or at risk of it.” The magazine also stated that, “The number of Somali children with severe acute malnutrition — near death — is 170,000 and 29,000 have already died.”As you can see, there is a severe famine in Somalia the money received for the award can only benefit those in the famine, those who wake up everyday not wondering what they are going to eat that day, but if they are going to eat that day. Another area that will be developed is education, the government is currently doing very little to help the education systems. As stated by UNICEF, the only school systems in Somalia are provided by a variety of stakeholders, including Community Education Committees, regional administrations, community-based organizations, educational umbrella groups and networks, NGOs and religious groups.” With an improved economy the government would be able to pay for kids to attend local schools that they would make. As of right now, only 42% of 1.7 million kids in Somalia attend school and 36% of these kids are girls. As you can see school is not seen as a priority because boys realize that they can make much more money by breaking the law and becoming a pirate. “An average income of an average Somali citizen is $500 a year pirates can receive up to $70,000 a year.” Humans will also develop socially, most Somali citizens are scared to even live their houses, Somalia has become what they are today through a long history of social divide. A closer society that could see their country as a whole instead of a bunch of clans and subclans. The majority of Somalia is just a lot of clans and subclans, this social divide is creating tension within the country so that it becomes everyone trying to better themselves and there is no doing anything to better the country as a whole. This attitude is what brings the nation down and affects them in every area, that determines a country's status, in a negative way. Somalia is currently ranked last on the Mo Ibrahim ranking system, out of a 100 point total Somalia is ranked a seven. With a rating like this it is not even a question who really needs this money is Somalia. The money would help the country’s people develop socially by bringing peace to the community when the piracy stops, due to a developed economy. The only concern one may have is that the money won’t be put to good use. As a military veteran, scholar and political activist in the Somali revolution I believe that there isn’t a better choice for who can put the money to good use then me.

a. "Pirates are not some born criminals. While an average income of an average Somali citizen is $500 a year pirates can receive up to $70,000 a year, so it is clear there will be many candidates to do this job. It is useless to try to talk them out of it until there is order in the country." b. “Human rights in Somalia are extremely poor and serious human rights violations are a problem due to the unstable political situation in the country. Somalia has not had a central government since President Mohamed Siad Barre fled the country in 1991. Even during the Siad Barre regime, civil rights violations and oppression had led directly to the Somali Civil War.” c. “Despite major improvements in overall school enrolment over the last eight years, only 710,860 children out of an estimated 1.7 million (UNDP projection) of primary school age children – 42 per cent of children - are in school. Of those at school, 36 per cent are girls.” d. “Education services in Somalia are provided by a variety of stakeholders, including Community Education Committees, regional administrations, community-based organizations, educational umbrella groups and networks, NGOs and religious groups.” e. A full 2.8 million people, 63% of the region's population, were either starving or at risk of it. The number of Somali children with severe acute malnutrition — near death — was 170,000; 29,000 had already died. Even those cataclysmic figures were probably underestimates.
 * __ Useful facts to help support case: __**

Works Cited

"Continuing Violence in Somalia." Continuing Violence in Somalia. Red Cross, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.

"Home." Home. Mo Ibrahim Foundation, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.

"Human Rights in Somalia." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Feb. 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.

Perry, Alex. "The Collateral Crisis in Somalia." Time Magazine 17 Sept. 2011: n. pag. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. .

"Sea Marshals - Report Shows Piracy Fuels Somalias Economy." Sea Marshals - Report Shows Piracy Fuels Somalias Economy. Sea Marshals, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.

"UNICEF Somalia - Home Page." UNICEF Somalia - Home Page. UNICEF, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.