Multilateral Strategy for Rural Somalia: Providing a Foundation for the Social and Economic Reconstruction of Somalia Using a Bottom up Approach

摘要

Somalia has been without a central government since 1991, resulting in the total collapse of state institutions. There have been several interventions by the United States, United Nations (UN), African Union, and other organizations to address Somalia's security concerns and mitigate the hunger and suffering of the Somali people. These nations and organizations have continued their funding programs to alleviate the hunger and poverty in Somalia that have been caused by severe drought and failed harvests. Unfortunately, this humanitarian assistance has had minimal impact on the Somali population because of a lack of basic security. This thesis attempts to answer the following question: Can multilateral efforts address the security concerns and provide the necessary environment for the reconstruction of rural Somalia. The thesis will discuss the UN intervention in the Somalia conflict from 1992 to 1995 and the current AMISOM efforts up to 2008; how subregional, regional, and international communities can better assist Somalia in becoming a viable nation state; and how the Arid and Semi Arid Land Reclamation (ASAL) model (as practiced by the Kenya government) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) can be implemented in Somalia as a comprehensive development approach based on a bottom-up strategy. The author presents a multilateral strategy to address the security, poverty, and geographical challenges in Somalia. The strategy includes the following: (1) re- establishment of traditional leadership in rural areas; (2) improving the ability of the rural population, both pastoralists and agriculturalists, to economically sustain themselves through the ASAL program; and (3) improvement of local security.