Mariam Mohamed Sheikhow

  Do you know the importance of volunteerism? Are you aware that there are a lot of Somali youth who are volunteering their time, energy and resources to impact their communities, especially those who are facing dire humanitarian situations? In this Blog post , I would like to share with you the stories of Somali youth who study Social Work in the country and are championing community volunteerism initiatives? First, let’s briefly understand who is youth? In Somalia, there are no clear definitions on who is youth. However, the Somali National Youth Policy stipulates youth as someone between the ages of 15 to 40. This contradicts The United Nations’ definitions for youth. The United Nations defines youth as a person between "the ages of 15 to 24. In addition to that, the African Youth Charter defines youth as a person between the ages of 15-25. African Youth Chartre.pdf . Somalia has a youthful demographic like "most" other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. 75 percen...