On behalf of the Georgetown University Africa Forum, I would like to invite all of you to an exciting event on Thursday, February, 2012: “Challenges and Progress in Somalia,” a discussion with Somali Family Services (SFS) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). If you are interested in learning about development in Somalia or are looking for an incredible summer internship, do not miss this event! Event details are included in the attached flyer.

Our first panelist, Abdurashid Ali, is the Executive Director of Somali Family Services, a local Somali NGO that works to promote civil society and enhance governance, while working to mitigate conflict. They also work with UNDP, EU, UNICEF, USAID and other international and local partners in the areas of education, youth training, livelihoods, and gender issues. I had an incredible opportunity to intern with them last summer in Nairobi, Kenya.

The second panelist, Eric Robinson, is a Program Officer for the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). He is responsible for NED’s democracy and governance work in East Africa, including Somalia. He has recently traveled to the region and has spent nearly a month in Somalia. NED is a strategic partner of Somali Family Services and has worked closely with Somali Family Serves to promote civil society and governance in Somalia.

In addition to learning more about Somalia, this is a great opportunity to find out about opportunities for summer internships (especially for first-year students). In the past, Somali Family Services has recruited almost all of its summer interns from MSFS, including such legends as Travis Burke, Adam Diehl, and yours truly. Somali Family Services is currently looking for 2 to 3 summer interns to work out of Nairobi. This event is a great opportunity to learn about summer internships and to meet the Executive Director. He will also be available to chat about these opportunities after the event.

If you have any questions, please contact me at this address or at eit3@georgetown.edu