{"id":8515,"date":"2021-06-23T21:03:36","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T21:03:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/?p=8515"},"modified":"2021-07-04T09:23:49","modified_gmt":"2021-07-04T09:23:49","slug":"wasuge-researchers-quest-to-change-somalias-governance-landscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/2021\/06\/23\/wasuge-researchers-quest-to-change-somalias-governance-landscape\/","title":{"rendered":"Wasuge: Researcher’s quest to change Somalia’s governance landscape"},"content":{"rendered":"

MOGADISHU — <\/strong>\u00a0Mahad Abdullahi Wasuge knew from the outset that hard work and determination pay. The 32\u2013year\u2013old who is currently a director, analyst, researcher, lecturer, and blogger epitomises Somali youth\u2019s struggles and resiliencies – get quality education, help family and rebuild the country.<\/p>\n

Pursuing knowledge<\/span><\/p>\n

Born in Buulaburte town in Hiiraan region in late 1988, he left his hometown after completing his primary school at the Ahmed Gurey School\u00a0in June 2006.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe town had no secondary school. I went to Belet Weyne to pursue a secondary education at Sheikh Mohamed Moalin School,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Upon finishing high school in June 2009, he encountered another obstacle:\u00a0 Belet Weyne had no university.<\/p>\n

Mr Wasuge\u2019s journey for seeking quality higher education started.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe nearest possible place I could access higher education was Mogadishu. I came to Mogadishu on 14 August 2009 to study at a university, at the time when many of its inhabitants were either being killed in or running away from conflict in the city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He started his Bachelor\u2019s degree in Public Administration at Mogadishu University in September 2009.<\/p>\n

After four years, he not only graduated with an undergraduate degree but\u00a0also with two diplomas in Law and English respectively.<\/p>\n

His English skills opened many doors for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I finished the English Language diploma in November 2011, it gave me the opportunity to be recruited as an English teacher at SYL Primary and Secondary School.\u00a0 Between 2013 and 2015, I had the opportunity to work with several organizations. I become a lecturer at the same university I graduated from, Mogadishu University, in February 2014. I still teach public policy and administration courses at the university,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Mr Wasuge\u2019s quest to educate himself did not stop with the undergraduate degree and diplomas.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn September 2015, I enrolled online for a Master\u2019s in Public Administration at the University of Roehampton in London. I earned my Master\u2019s degree in mid-2018,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Director and Researcher<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Wasuge is currently the executive director of the Somali Public Agenda (SPA). He founded SPA in January 2018 after working as a researcher for over four years at the Heritage Institute of Policy Studies in Mogadishu.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

He noted that when he established SPA, many studies and analysis about Somalia lacked local experiences and contexts.<\/p>\n

Many Somalis who studied locally were unable to contribute to the production of knowledge in Somalia due to the lack of a platform like SPA.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought that establishing SPA would help us (Somalis) tell our own stories and let others listen to what we say about our own country.\u00a0 However, my main motivation was how we could contribute to better services for the public and the young generation.\u00a0 SPA\u2019s mission is pursuing public service excellence in Somalia,\u201d said the 32-year-old Executive Director.<\/p>\n

Governance research and education<\/span><\/p>\n

SPA does research that informs policymakers, the international community and the general public on key governance and public service issues in Somalia.\u00a0 As part of its public engagement efforts, it has created the Public Agenda Forum and SPA Podcasts. Both are means to engage and inform policymakers and the public.<\/p>\n

In addition, it has two centers dedicated to the training and co-designing of human-centered public policies and services.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving lived and grown up in Somalia at a time when there was no functioning government to provide basic public services, I founded SPA to contribute to the understanding and improvement of governance and service provision in Somalia,\u201d he posited.<\/p>\n

To achieve its goals of changing Somalia\u2019s governance landscape, SPA follows a three-step interlinked approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, SPA undertakes policy-oriented and evidence-based research. Second, based on the findings and policy recommendations of the studies, SPA helps design public policies, programmes and projects with the relevant authorities. Third, SPA offers short training courses to contribute to the building of administrative cadres that can deliver public policies and programmes to the community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Achievements<\/span><\/p>\n

So far, SPA\u2019s achievements are impressive.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the three years and six months since we started, we have achieved a lot. We were able to produce thirteen (13) governance briefs, twenty-eight (28) commentaries on current issues, three (3) research reports, and seventeen (17) podcasts on issues of governance and public services. Our publications are also available in Somali language. This is huge given the financial and security limitations we have been working under,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

SPA, as a non-profit public policy and administration research organization, received many praises from the policymakers for the work it has done, notably its election series programme.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we published a brief on the election bill in July 2019, a member of the 15-member House of the People ad hoc committee described our analysis as objective. They also invited us to give them broader insights from our research,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr. Wasuge and his colleagues are regularly invited to speak at international platforms to brief international actors.<\/p>\n

Local and international media outlets have also engaged them for their expertise on Somalia\u2019s political, economic, security, humanitarian and social affairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that we have so far achieved the realization that we (Somalis) can tell our stories and educate others about Somalia issues,\u201d Mr. Wasuge said.<\/p>\n

COVID-19 pandemic<\/span><\/p>\n

The pandemic did not deter SPA from carrying out its vital task of informing and educating the public on governance issues, especially analytical products focusing on understanding the socio-economic impact of COVID-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough we did not include COVID-19 related analysis and studies in our initial yearly research plan, we re-adjusted our work with the outbreak of the devastating pandemic in 2020. We managed to produce three commentaries, one governance brief, and one research report on the COVID-19 pandemic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added \u201cWe analyzed COVID-19 related social stigma, its impact on the informal economy, its effect on higher education institutions, and the response to it by the different levels of government. These studies and analyses were all self-financed.\u201d<\/p>\n

He noted that the credit for the achievements so far go to the SPA team for their role in the publications, especially at a time when they were working from home and doing most of the interviews over the phone.<\/p>\n

The future<\/span><\/p>\n

He also pointed out he will invest more time and efforts in SPA work in the coming years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that we are doing very important work for the country. Together with my colleagues, I will work to make SPA a center for research, dialogue, and policy design and capacity developments. My plan is also to make sure that SPA has financial independence and that it will keep up its good work without my presence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Source: UNSOM\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Origin: View original<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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MOGADISHU — \u00a0Mahad Abdullahi Wasuge knew from the outset that hard work and determination pay. The 32\u2013year\u2013old who is currently a director, analyst, researcher, lecturer, and blogger epitomises Somali youth\u2019s struggles and resiliencies – get quality education, help family and rebuild the country. Pursuing knowledge Born in Buulaburte town in Hiiraan region in late 1988, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-news","category-reports"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8515"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8519,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8515\/revisions\/8519"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}