Around the Diaspora November 2017

1. Amina Abdul Kadir Wins the Inaugural Women Peacebuilder for Water Peace Prize

Amina Abdulkadir, a researcher from the Peace and Development Research Centre (PDRC), has won the inaugural Women Peacebuilder for Water (WPW) Prize for her contribution towards the resolution of water-related conflicts in Puntland.

Amina, 31, accepted the award on September 27 in Milan, Italy, during the first annual ‘Rules of Water, Rules for Life’ summit, organized by Milan Global, and the Milan Center for Food Law and Policy. She was selected from a pool of ten finalists from Finland, Haiti, Italy, Kenya, Sudan, Somalia, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States.

2. Sada Mire Selected for the International Hay Festival List of 30 Thinkers and Philosophers

The Hay festival is an event that brings readers and writers together for an opportunity to collaborate. Nobel prize winners, scientists and even politicians like Bernie Sanders make appearances. 30 inspiring and young novelists, scientists, philosophers, performers, and activists were selected for this year’s Hay festival.

Sada Mire, an Archaeologist at the Faculty of Archaeology in Leiden, is one of these 30. In the next ten years, The Hay Festival will promote Sada Mire’s  work at their festivals around the world. In these years the Festival is sponsored by The New York Times.

3. Somaliland Launches a Job Creation Program

Authorities in Somaliland, along with the World Bank, have launched the first round of funding in the Bank’s flagship job creation program, the Somali Business Catalytic Fund (SBCF). The fund will support 150 to 200 businesses, with one-third of grants to businesses in Somaliland.

The first round will provide grants to 35 enterprises in Somaliland, creating 946 jobs. Approximately 3,500 jobs (of which 30% will be dedicated to women) will be created through the SBCF across the Somali peninsula by June 2018.

4. Strive, a Short Movie About the Story of Idris Ahmed, a Refugee Desperate to Improve his Life and That of his Family, Becomes a Hit in the UK

Charlie Watts, a young filmmaker based in Manchester UK, has created a powerful short documentary called STRIVE, which tells the story of Idris Ahmed, a refugee desperate to improve his life, and that of his family. Ahmed, originally from Somalia, was born into violence, with civil war ravaging his country.

In the film, Ahmed recalls his early memories from Somalia. “I was seeing the majority of the time dead people,” he says. “It becomes normal when you are hearing gunshots every night.”

He speaks about his growing up in the UK, coming to terms with his own past and the challenges of integrating into a new and unfamiliar society. “You should never, ever judge people because you don’t know what they are running away from,” Ahmad says.

In boxing, Ahmad found a way of channeling his anger and pain and coping with these challenges. Now a young man, he dreams of taking his passion in life to the next level. “I am at a point where I have something, and I want to achieve great things,” he says. “I’m gonna keep going.”

“I just want to live my life to the fullest,” he adds.

STRIVE beautifully tells the story of Ahmad’s journey from childhood to adulthood in the UK. The film captures the challenges of dislocation and the resilience and perseverance of refugees.