A Taste of Africa

September 19, 2004 1:30 AM

A Taste of Africa. Life as a development worker in the Horn of Africa.
posted by plep (4 comments total)

Incredibly important - I hope people show an interest.
posted by ed\26h at 6:14 AM on September 19, 2004

really interesting...it sounds like they're totally getting their act together. (equal rights needs work, but i liked that there was at least one female grad at the university.) What are their chances of becoming a completely recognized, free country? Any UN recognition coming? How do the Somalis feel?
posted by amberglow at 6:37 AM on September 19, 2004

Somaliland is essentially the former British Somaliland, which declared independence from greater Somalia during the civil war and has maintained its own government ever since. (The horn region itself is a self-governing entity known as Puntland, which has not declared independence but similarly boycotts the UN-approved Transitional National Government (TNG) in Mogadishu.) They were never scarred by the clan warfare which plagued the south, the former Italian colony which includes Mogadishu. The region of Awdal, which borders Djibouti, is developed and prosperous by comparison with the rest of the country. As far as I know, no nation currently recognizes the sovereignty of the Somaliland government, so it exists in a kind of free trade anarchy zone (similar effects exist for prewar Kurdistan and Kosovo); whether this has been a success may be argued, but libertarians have seized on Somaliland as a proving ground for their ideas on markets and democracy. Ultimately, Somalilanders may set an example for other emergent states.

Personally, I say give the sovereignty to them as has their shit together.
posted by dhartung at 12:32 AM on September 20, 2004

Thanks again, dhartung--you always come thru. And i'm with you--they should get sovereignty.
posted by amberglow at 4:32 AM on September 20, 2004