The BBC World Service Trust is focusing on education and livelihoods in Somalia. We are working with a wide range of partners to improve literacy and numeracy skills, and to help people involved in the livestock sector make a better living.
Context
Somalia has been without an effective central government since President Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.
As a result, the country has broken up into three regions - Somaliland, Puntland and Central South Somalia.
Years of fighting between rival warlords, coupled with drought, floods, disease and famine have led to the deaths of up to one million people.
Eighty per cent of the population is dependent on livestock.
The country is at the bottom of virtually all the international development indices.
Facts
- Nearly half the population (43.2%) lives on less than $1 per day, while 73.4% live on less than US$2 per day
- 25.8% of children under five are underweight
- Adult literacy is estimated to have declined from the already low level of 24% in 1989 to 19.2% in 2002
- Only 9% of children are enrolled in primary schools
- 400,000 have fled their homes because of the conflict and are living in camps
Working in partnership
Working in partnership with the Africa Educational Trust and the BBC Somali Service, our weekly educational radio programmes have reached 250,000 Somali speakers and our face-to-face tutorials have taught almost 30,000 children and adults in Somalia how to read and write. More
We are also working with the Africa Educational Trust and the BBC Somali Service to deliver a combination of educational radio programmes and learning groups to increase the knowledge and skills of people involved in the livestock sector. More
We are now working on two new education projects aimed at improving basic adult education skills and secondary education in Somalia.
