Executive Summary
This report provides findings on the Somali diaspora response to the regional drought/crisis that affect Somaliland and Puntland in early 2016. The report includes a broad mapping exercise and discussion of responses from the European diaspora, as well as an overview and some more detailed case studies of actual responses in Somaliland and Puntland. The research was undertaken by two researchers, the team leader and author who remained in the UK, and a lead researcher who visited Somaliland and Puntland and also conducted interviews by telephone across the European diaspora.
The assignment faced a number of significant challenges, due in part to the need to develop both a broad scope(particularly in terms of the mapping exercise), as well as detailed case studies in Somaliland and Puntland. In addition, the informal nature of the processes being studied, including an almost complete lack of documentation, as well as sensitivities in providing information further complicated the study. Finally, while this study provides a significant account of diaspora actors’ responses across Europe, it cannot claim to be fully comprehensive given the large and scattered nature of the Somali community within the European diaspora, and the uncertainty of knowing if most efforts have been captured
