Somali Youth: The Prime Force for Peace

Mohamed W. Sandhol
Mogadishu, Somalia

Somali Youth are often the prime force that can bring conflict or peace, it is up to the adults and national leaders to ensure that they use this force in a positive direction.  In almost every conflict, especially wars, youths are on the front line because that is the only available option for them.

Youth often have less information on how to be peaceful, they have less knowledge on the impacts of an unstable environment. This is because they do not have appropriate subjects taught to them in school to address peace-building.

Many African nations have poor curriculum that does not contain any  teachings on social behaviors, professional communication and differences of human thinking. All of these are strategies which can promote the strength of youth in peace building and maximize on their potential as a preventive means of controlling conflict situations. 


While there is a great opportunity to deploy youth in peace development, technology and production - Many countries have forgotten the role of youth in the process of development opportunities. They only engage them upon their failures in politics, negotiations and conflict resolutions. In a country such as Somalia which is emerging from post-war, this is complete negligence in the development process. 

The risk of sliding back into conflict is very real, especially if no effort is made to address such factors as extreme poverty, lack of economic opportunities and if we continue to neglect the specific needs of the most vulnerable groups, especially our youth! 






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