BHER Speaker Series: Together for Peace in Somalia Film Screening and Rebuilding Somalia Panel

with Hawa Sabriye, Maryan Madobe and Jama Ahmed Mohamed

Mainstream media narratives outside of Somalia frame the country in terms of conflict, crisis, and chaos, with its citizens either perpetrators of violence or victims of it. In this panel, we will move beyond these myopic representations to explore the varied stories of teachers, activists, and others working to rebuild Somalia and enact a peaceful future in the Horn of Africa. After a screening of the short film “Together for Peace” by Diirad Films’ Moulid Hujale and Said Fadhaye, panelists will reflect on the documentary and discuss their work in and outside of the education sector. With a focus on the opportunities and challenges of creating a new Somalia, this panel offers a new, hopeful, and more nuanced representation of it.

Hawa Sabriye
Hawa Sabriye works with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) in Mogadishu, Somalia, as a Humanitarian Affairs Officer. She earned a BA in English Literature and Human Geography as well as a BA in Education from the University of Toronto. She also holds a Master of Education degree from York University, as well as Graduate Diplomas in Refugee and Migration Studies and Post-Secondary Education: Community, Culture, and Policy. She relocated to Mogadishu, Somalia, in 2019 to work as an intern for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and later became a Project Development and Reporting Officer for the Mission.

Maryan Madobe
Maryan Noor Madobe is a former BHER beneficiary who graduated from Kenyatta University with a BA in Education. During her stay in Dadaab, Maryan worked with different humanitarian organizations as a teacher, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) prevention staff, and in health and nutrition for children under five. Because of the experienced gained and the educational support through BHER scholarships, she succeeded in getting a job in the UN Somalia operation and is now working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in protection field. Maryan’s work specifically supports SGBV prevention and child protection programming, general protection and as well lead the protection cluster for the Jubbaland state.

Jama Ahmed Mohamed
Jama Ahmed Mohamed came to the Dadaab refugee camps in 1991 and finished his tertiary education from the BHER program. After 27 years of staying in Kenya, Jama returned to Somalia and has lived there for 4 years. Jama has vast experience in the education sector and his work include designing, planning, organization, implementation, monitoring, and the coordination of education in Emergency programs both in Kenya and Somalia. Jama worked in the Dadaab Refugee Camps for different agencies and in different positions including as a quality education assistant officer. He was also engaged with Windle International Kenya’s project in advocating girls’ education in in Dadaab camps. Jama worked for the Ministry of Education in Qardho district as a school manager and he is currently working as an English language lecture teacher as well as an academic chairperson for the English department at Puntland University State in Garowe, Somalia. Jama established a primary and secondary school in Jubaland Kismayo which is currently operating.

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Everyone is welcome to participate

Join the Zoom session at
https://yorku.zoom.us/j/97185218104?pwd=UWFPVTR5WHdic2oxMHYvQ0NYSUpaQT09m