24/03/2015
Sabancı University Istanbul Policy Center (IPC) and SaferWorld presented their joint report titled “Turkey and Somalia: Making Aid Work for Peace” at a press conference.
Within the past year, Istanbul Policy Center (IPC) and SaferWorld joined forces to shed light on Turkey’s involvement in Somali relief and development efforts. Interviews and workshops with professionals, academics, NGO staff, and civil society groups were conducted in Turkey, London, Nairobi, and across Somalia. Among the major findings of the research are the practices and methods of Turkish organizations as well as their robust divergence from the traditional donor attitudes vis-à-vis principles on deployment and fieldwork. The two think tanks compiled their findings and policy recommendations in a report entitled “Turkey and Somalia: Making Aid Work for Peace.”
According to the report, the activities of Turkish state agencies and NGOs in Somalia since 2011 have become a hallmark of Turkey's foreign policy and underpinned its global image as an emerging power. The candor and effectiveness of Turkish aid organizations in the Somali context have challenged the conventional thinking and practice in the discourse of humanitarian relief and development assistance. From health care to education, infrastructure construction to the provision of basic services, Turkish engagement in Somalia makes an interesting case not only from a practical but also from a methodological standpoint.
Key findings in the report are: Turkey has become more visible as a global actor in the past decade. “Humanitarian diplomacy” aids began to focus on nations caught in conflict and strife.
Aid plays a central part in Turkey’s activities in Somalia, and is the foundation of Turkey’s reputation in the country. Somalia continues to be among the top five countries that receive the most aid from Turkey, and is the largest recipient of aid from Turkish NGOs after Syria.
Foreign aid provided by the Turkish government and NGOs in the region started with emergency relief and evolved into development projects in health, education, utilities and government. The next step in aid evolution may be an explicit focus on aid that serves the building of peace.
s experienced by other donors, Somalia was a difficult context for Turkish aid organizations. Turkish institutions encountered risks related to the inadvertent exacerbation of conflict due to limited knowledge about the dynamics of the conflict, channeling of aid to the war economy, corruption, embezzlement of supplies by political elite, and excessive focus on Mogadishu.
Turkey’s reputation and close interest in Somalia place both the government and NGOs in a strong position to provide aid for peace by focusing on conflict and sensitivity to peace, placing accountable, comprehensive and legitimate politics at the center of government-building while merging these efforts with mediation, conflict resolution and grassroots initiatives.
Turkey’s experience in Somalia provides important lessons for further improving the concept of humanitarian diplomacy implemented by the Turkish government in foreign policy.
SaferWorld is an independent international organization working to prevent violent conflict and build safer lives. The not-for-profit organization has programs in nearly 20 countries and territories across Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe.
The report’s authors Thomas Wheeler (SaferWorld), Onur Sazak (IPC) and Auveen Woods (IPC) gave information about the report in the conference.
Note: The report is attached as a pdf file
