Somalia | UNICEF Canada: For Every Child

Learn more about UNICEF’s work under the topic "Somalia".

After the trauma of displacement, education offers hope

Climate change means droughts in Somalia are deeper and more frequent, forcing people to abandon their homes, but a new start can mean new opportunities for children able to attend school for the first time.

Habiba (Center) with her two children Hawa and Aniso pose for the photo in Xaar-Xaar south of Galkayo in Galmudug State of Somalia.

Somali girls gain communication skills and confidence through school ‘empowerment’ clubs

Across Somaliland, Girls Empowerment Clubs are helping adolescent schoolgirls negotiate social challenges, manage changing emotions, and communicate confidently with their families and communities.

Saharla Abdikarim Adan, 13, poses for a portrait after a Girls Empowerment Club session at Borana Girls Primary school in Borana, Somaliland.

Girls in Somalia seize opportunity of education, but barriers remain for those with disabilities

In a country where three out of five children are not in school, girls and children with disabilities are gradually finding the support they need to thrive in education.

A girl wearing yellow uniform in Somalia looks hopefully into the light

Ayan's learning journey continues in Somalia

14-year-old Ayan will be going into grade 6 this year – but just two years ago she wasn’t even in school. The UNdaunted program in Somalia supports adolescent students with disabilities, like Ayan, to get an education.

A girl looks down at a notebook while sitting at her desk.

“I don’t walk the same pace as the others, but that doesn’t make me give up.”

16-year-old Kafia Noor seizes the chance of an education to escape the ordeal of displacement.

A girl wearing a yellow uniform with a yellow scarf stands by a door looking outside contemplatively.

Undaunted by being differently abled

Schools in Puntland are changing lives and perceptions through education

A girl wearing a blue headscarf look out of a window. A curtain is silhouetted in the foreground on the right side of the photo.

In Somaliland, a school program helps to integrate children with disabilities

In partnership with the Government of Canada, UNICEF Canada supports the education of girls with disabilities in 65 schools in Somaliland through the UNDaunted program.

Students work on an in-class exercise at Darwish Primary School in Garowe, Somalia.

A Leading Voice: A Polio Survivor's Story

Safia Ibrahim contracted polio when she was a child living in Somalia. Although it dramatically changed her life, Safia has used her experiences to become a leading voice for vaccine advocacy, as well as the rights of children with disabilities.

World Polio Day: Life as a Polio Survivor

Safia Ibrahim is a 37 year old Somali-born Canadian. When she was 1 years old, she contracted polio that rendered her unable to walk. For World Polio Day, Safia spoke with UNICEF Canada about the choice she never got to make but one that has impacted her entire life.

Crisis ‘far from over’ as malnutrition, thirst and disease threaten lives of millions of children in north-east Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen

Continued humanitarian action crucial in saving children’s lives

Tags: Somalia

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