International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue V, May 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

Youth Unemployment in Somalia: A Case Study of Baidoa, Southwest State of Somalia

Mohamed Dhaqane Ali^1,2, Mohamed Deek Isack Hassan¹, Ibrahim Mohamed Yusuf¹,

Ahmed Mohamed Nur¹, Omar Hassan Adan¹, Mohamed Aweys^1,2,3,4, Mohamed A. Eno^1,2,3*

¹University of Southern Somalia, Baidoa, SWSS

²Hakaba Institute for Research and Training, Baidoa, SWSS

³ St Clements University, Lausanne, Switzerland

⁴Unicaf University, Larnaka, Cyprus

* Corresponding author

Abstract: This study examines the problem of unemployment in Baidoa city, the capital of Bay region in the Southwest State of Somalia. The results indicate that the root causes of unemployment among the youth are corruption, tribalism, lack of skills, inadequate education, and poor economy. The findings further reveal that the problem of unemployment, which leads to youth radicalization, increase of crime, and migration, can be curbed by eliminating the practice of tribalism, corruption and setting a proper strategy for job creation. While these are the perceptions of the 50 respondents surveyed in the study, suggestions and recommendations are given to various stakeholders to find solutions to the negative impact unemployment is causing to the youth in Baidoa.

Keywords: Baidoa, Corruption, Somalia, Southwest State, Unemployment, Youth

I. INTODUCTION

Youth unemployment is a very challenging global phenomenon that is related to massive underdevelopment of extensive dimensions, affecting mainly the developing countries. The constraints of youth unemployment cause more serious problems to countries like Somalia where successive natural and man-made catastrophes prevail in the daily life of the masses. This study discusses the problem of youth unemployment in Baidoa, Southwest State of Somalia, where the situation of youth unemployment has impacted the town in addition to recurrence of severe droughts, famine, massive influx of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and insecurity. In order to gain an understanding of the nature of the problem, this study explores youth perception regarding the effect of the problem. It further reveals factors the youth think as contributors to the dynamics behind their lack of employment.
Categorization of youth
Youth in Somalia can be organized according to clusters and culture of living or residence. While some live in rural areas as pastoral nomads or agro-pastoralists, others are in IDP camps with very little aspiration for a durable change in their current living situation, while a growing number of them pursue living mode as urbanites. Considering the undesirable situation of the country which for decades has been in pendulum between natural disasters and man-made catastrophes, poor education system has operated unregulated, uncoordinated, for the past three decades (Eno 2018; Eno et al. 2014; Eno et al. 2019). As a result, the sector has done very little in offering quality education that is at par with or even comes adjacent to what has been achieved in neighboring countries. From another aspect, although the nature of the difficulty challenges almost all categories of youth, available study informs that youth from marginalized clans are most severely impacted in all areas of human development: academically, politically, socially, economically as well as in