Survey:
Unemployment biggest concern among Somalilanders
By
Zuhur Yassin Ibrahim--Somaliland
Somaliland today faces many kinds
of problems; poverty, lack of proper health services, roads, electricity,
etc. It is hard to see people taking initiatives to solve their own
problems. It seems people are waiting for others to solve it for them and in
turn those people are waiting for others and the circle goes round and no
change.
I took to the streets of Hargeisa
to find out and collect opinions on what is the role of the community in
making a difference and to get the views of the citizens. I surveyed a
population of 45 people (35 Female, 10 male) and asked them questions about
their involvement in taking action and their views on the problems facing
the country today. Though the size of the people surveyed was small I found
interesting observations.
The results for the question -
what were the major problem/s facing the country were that 40% of the people
think that unemployment is a major problem facing the country. Illiteracy
was the next major problem with 20% while issue like lack of recognition,
Khat, roads and lack of cleanliness were 11.11%, 11.11%, 6.66%, 8.8 %
respectively. When asked if as a citizen they can make a difference the vast
majority of 73.3% answered they could make a difference while the remaining
26.67 answered no. Above half 55.5% are already involved with some action
taking in the community while the other 44.4% are not which shows that there
needs to be more community mobilization and awareness. Almost all 97.7 % are
ready to work to make a difference if they were given the knowledge and
information and/or the money to help people within the community. When I
asked about who is responsible for solving the problems facing Somaliland
84.4% of the surveyed people answer the government while 15.5 answered the
community. Many of the respondents advised people, organization and
government to work hard, with honesty, justice, to educate the people and
most of all to work united.
We know that the Somaliland
government doesn’t have the capacity and/or money to solve the many problems
in the community. The government should make a point to mobilize the
community and give them awareness on how to make a difference in their
communities. The government should encourage communities to work with them
to solve problems united.