YES Leader: Ms.Faiza Abdi
Email : faiza@yesweb.org, yessomalia@gmail.com
Website : YES-Somalia

Vision : Empowerment of young people, to serve as productive members of society and address the challenges of youth unemployment and insecurity, resulting from financial instability.

Background : Since 2002, the country has experienced fierce fighting among warring political factions, and many youths have become disadvantaged and involved in the fighting. Largescale youth unemployment has emerged and has negatively impacted society, effecting the security situation as young people have taken up arms and become involved in armed robbery, sea piracy, charcoal burning, and drug use. 19 years of anarchy has destroyed Somali government institutions. Only 20 % of youth populations go to school while

About the Network : Hosted by WAWA organization net work for women, YES Somalia was established in 2002. Since its founding, YES Somalia has sought alliances from both civil society and private sector organizations, working to convince the government to recognize the challenges facing youth for employment.

Current Major Initiatives:

• Youth Peace Education and Conflict Reconciliation workshops and forums are held to improve peace and stability.
• Employment and skill promotion trainings are being organized.
• Youth capacity building and skill training of the community for their involvement and voice in decision making
• Employment creation and income generation activities by 82 youth groups in the districts - empowering youth and playing an active role in the society in the areas of education/skill development and conflict resolution.
• In the process of creating the Youth Resource Center where youth groups will have access to resource materials and exchange experiences
• Training on recycling and using plastic waste materials - provided awards to youth and community groups on using plastic waste materials collected from the town. A local consultant has trained participants on the ways to fabricate productive materials from the plastic wastes collected from streets.
• Town Greening activity- 500 trees were prov ided to youth groups, CSO and the private sector to plant these trees.

Key Accomplishments :

• Partners of YES Somalia include Diakonia, ILO, SIDA, UNICEF
• YES Somalia has successfully gained the trust of the business community and CSOs, working together to lobby with the government to implement policies that support young people.
• Fostering government and community support for recognition of youth challenges, formed partnership with international organizations for improving the capacity of youth organizations and the Network.