Are Remittances the Silver Bullet to Tackle Vulnerability in Somalia?

Date & Time: Thursday 17th January 2019

Venue: Djam Lecture Theatre, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, WC1H 0XG

The importance of remittances to the household economy across Somalia is well-recognized. What is less well understood is the relationship between remittances and the relative vulnerability of certain communities, particularly to drought and food insecurity.

This event—part of the Rift Valley Institute’s work on ‘Remittances and Vulnerability in Somalia’, in partnership with the World Bank—will explore the key features and the marked variations of the remittance landscape in Somalia. It will also analyse how remittances are used by families to improve food security, particularly through access to credit, and the cross-continental networks of trust that enable these transfers.

Speakers:

Nisar Majid (PhD), Consultant researcher, Rift Valley Institute

Nisar has worked in and on Somali-related issues since the late 1990s. His early work was in food security and livelihoods analysis (including early warning). He has studied and worked on Somali diaspora and remittance dynamics, the Somalia famine of 2011, humanitarian access and programme quality (in volatile contexts), corruption in humanitarian aid and aid localisation, all with a focus on Somalia. Nisar is the co-author of ‘Famine in Somalia: Competing Imperatives, Collective Failures, 2011 – 12’.

Dr Idil Osman, Department of Development Studies, SOAS

Dr Osman is a global media and communications academic with a particular interest in how they relate to modern day conflicts and engage diaspora communities. She holds a PhD in Media from the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University. She has authored numerous publications that focus on media, conflict, development and migration including the most recent book, ‘Media, Diaspora and the Somali Conflict’ (2017) and ‘Somalis in Europe; Stories from the Somali Diaspora’ (2011). She’s based at the Department for Development Studies at SOAS.

Chair: Quman Akli,

Quman Akli is an international public lawyer, she has extensive experience in justice sector reform in Somaliland and, more recently, has been involved in constitution-making in Somalia. Quman is currently the Rule of Law lead at Asal Consulting, a boutique professional services firm founded by Somali subject-matter experts. As a research fellow at the Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law she focused on international & comparative constitutional law research and training.

Spaces are limited. Please reserve your ticket on Eventbrite.