Somali Family Services realizes that in order to achieve its vision of a peaceful and stable Somalia, the dire situation of youth must be addressed head-on.  Among the youth of Puntland are thousands of former refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and child soldiers who face soaring unemployment rates, in addition to myriad problems related to drug addiction and war trauma.

In its continued efforts to empower these marginalized youth, SFS is currently implementinga project that aims to engage over 400 youth at risk in Bosaso and Galkacyo.  Funded by the Government of Japan, SFS has partnered with the International Labour Organization (ILO), UNICEF and UNDP to provide the selected youth with hands-on vocational and entrepreneurship training, as well as the opportunity to participate in a business start-up competition.

 Furthermore, the youth, many of them former combatants, are also participating in a behavior transformation course as well as labor-intensive activities, whereby they earn cash daily for their work in reconstructing two of Galkacyo’s main roads.  A success thus far, the project aims to direct the youth’s energies toward productive means, and by extension, to prevent them from joining violent groups that are likely to further destabilize Somalia.