<<< back to live community development projects
Somali Community Forums
This page about Somali community forums supported by RAPAR has been added to chronologically, i.e. the most recent content is towards the bottom of the page. NB: a page for the Somali Women's Forum is currently under construction.
First phase - Youth Work - Somali Youth Forum
This initiative provides young people with a forum to discuss serious issues affecting the Somali community. During a residential conference held 4-6 June 2010 at Degmo Centre For Somali Heritage and Rural Culture, 14 members of the youth group addressed their main concerns shared in the community, with a decision to focus on areas surrounding youth, education and employment. The group has pledged to work with all sectors of the Somali community, including a new women’s group and hopes to engage with wider Manchester communities by providing a credible forum for Somali representation. Spokesperson Omer Shire expressed his high hopes for the future: “Our generation is the future: it is up to us to act.” (Words from The Manchester Mule: www.manchestermule.com) See the news post from the latest Somali Men's Forum here. |
Second phase - evolving the forum
Anecdotally, we understand that there may be upwards of 23000 people from Somalian backgrounds in Manchester. There are large numbers of female-headed households and a noticeable number of single men who are disconnected from family and other formal community structures. Since the Manchester City Council survey of 1994 there has been no systematic attempt to update the city about how the Somali community has developed. We have published on how to do action research about health issues in this community (Moran R., Mohamed Z. and Lovel H., 2006. Participatory research processes about health with Somali refugee people seeking asylum. In Temple and Moran eds. 2006, Doing Research with Refugees. Issues and Guidelines. London: Policy Press). However, the findings of that, and other smaller scale work in this community, has so far failed to activate strategic responses that can begin to address some of the very acute needs that we know exist. We welcome the support from Lloyds TSB that enables us to move this agenda forward.
Our overall aim is to enable the development of a Somali Forum that can communicate a contemporary understanding about the characteristics, needs, skills and aspirations of the Somali communities in Manchester.
We have three objectives
· To involve both members from Somali identified community groups in the city and other individuals who are disconnected from those groups
· To apply our community empowerment and action research processes that can enable Somali people from the forum to develop evidence bases about their needs
· To release local Somali capacity to communicate with the structures of the city about the needs in the future
Anecdotally, we understand that there may be upwards of 23000 people from Somalian backgrounds in Manchester. There are large numbers of female-headed households and a noticeable number of single men who are disconnected from family and other formal community structures. Since the Manchester City Council survey of 1994 there has been no systematic attempt to update the city about how the Somali community has developed. We have published on how to do action research about health issues in this community (Moran R., Mohamed Z. and Lovel H., 2006. Participatory research processes about health with Somali refugee people seeking asylum. In Temple and Moran eds. 2006, Doing Research with Refugees. Issues and Guidelines. London: Policy Press). However, the findings of that, and other smaller scale work in this community, has so far failed to activate strategic responses that can begin to address some of the very acute needs that we know exist. We welcome the support from Lloyds TSB that enables us to move this agenda forward.
Our overall aim is to enable the development of a Somali Forum that can communicate a contemporary understanding about the characteristics, needs, skills and aspirations of the Somali communities in Manchester.
We have three objectives
· To involve both members from Somali identified community groups in the city and other individuals who are disconnected from those groups
· To apply our community empowerment and action research processes that can enable Somali people from the forum to develop evidence bases about their needs
· To release local Somali capacity to communicate with the structures of the city about the needs in the future
Characteristics of the group so far
Key steps for the future
- Public meeting 04/03/12 launched new research into the gap between NEET stats and experiences at school for young people of Somali heritage. Click here to download the research report 'Who's around NEET? - and Why? Young men from Somali Backgrounds' (pdf).
- Concerns were raised at the meeting about institutional racism in education. An open letter has been sent to the headteacher of Manchester Academy. Click here to read the letter.
- Next meeting: Saturday 10th March 2012, 6pm - 9pm. Phil Martin Centre, 141-143 Princess Road, Moss Side, Manchester, M14 4RE. All welcome.
Report on Public Meeting: Educating Our Children - Somali Families' Issues And Concerns
The research report 'Who's around NEET? - and Why? Young men from Somali Backgrounds' was launched on 4th March 2012 at the Friends' Meeting House in the centre of Manchester, at a Public Meeting facilitated by RAPAR in partnership with the emerging Manchester Somali Men's Forum, the development of which is being supported through a LloydsTSBFoundation community development grant. The meeting was successful in providing a platform for people in the Somali community to discuss their concerns about the education of young Somali men. These were confidently and passionately spoken, a testament to the strength of the Somali community, and were central to forming key steps for the future.
At the meeting, Cllr Cox, representing Moss Side Ward of Manchester, publicly announced the following intentions:
The meeting decided to activate two areas of work immediately:
Click here to download and read the full research report 'Who's around NEET? - and Why? Young men from Somali Backgrounds'.
See the press release about the launching of the report here.
The research report 'Who's around NEET? - and Why? Young men from Somali Backgrounds' was launched on 4th March 2012 at the Friends' Meeting House in the centre of Manchester, at a Public Meeting facilitated by RAPAR in partnership with the emerging Manchester Somali Men's Forum, the development of which is being supported through a LloydsTSBFoundation community development grant. The meeting was successful in providing a platform for people in the Somali community to discuss their concerns about the education of young Somali men. These were confidently and passionately spoken, a testament to the strength of the Somali community, and were central to forming key steps for the future.
At the meeting, Cllr Cox, representing Moss Side Ward of Manchester, publicly announced the following intentions:
- To work to ensure that the voices of Somali young people are heard in wider debates across the City.
- To look at the links with the Powerhouse.
- To ensure that Local authority workers look at the data about statistics that appear in the report and challenge them if necessary.
The meeting decided to activate two areas of work immediately:
- Collectively, to publish an Open Letter to the Headteacher of the Manchester Academy asking for a public meeting within the next two weeks at the school about the issues raised in the meeting, and to involve the parents from Claremont Road Junior school. See the signed Open Letter here.
- To organise mentoring and counseling opportunities for young men from Somali backgrounds through the Manchester Somali Men's Forum.
Click here to download and read the full research report 'Who's around NEET? - and Why? Young men from Somali Backgrounds'.
See the press release about the launching of the report here.
Photos of the meeting - 4th March 2012
Update // 18th Feb 2013
RAPAR, with the Somali Men's Forum, are delighted that the Manchester Academy is taking steps towards working with Somali families to begin to address some of the issues exposed through our research "What's around NEET?" (2012) (see above). Below is the Academy's call out for a Parents' Forum. It is a good start. Well done Academy. RAPAR and the Somali Men's Forum remain open to supporting and enabling all future constructive work.
RAPAR, with the Somali Men's Forum, are delighted that the Manchester Academy is taking steps towards working with Somali families to begin to address some of the issues exposed through our research "What's around NEET?" (2012) (see above). Below is the Academy's call out for a Parents' Forum. It is a good start. Well done Academy. RAPAR and the Somali Men's Forum remain open to supporting and enabling all future constructive work.