Rebuilding Somaliland: Issues and possibilities, edited by Matt Bryden. Lawrenceville NJ and Asmara: The Red Sea Press Inc., 2005. viii + 393 pp. £29.95 (paperback). ISBN 1-56902-229-1 (paperback).

Abstract

This collection of essays provides a unique and insightful account of Somaliland’s post-1991 reconstruction process from the perspective of Somalilanders themselves. It is the product of a collaborative research project undertaken by WSP International (formerly the War-torn Societies Project) and the Academy of Peace and Development (a local Somaliland institution) between 1999 and 2002. In accordance with WSP International’s aims, Rebuilding Somaliland concentrates on analysing the specific challenges Somaliland is perceived to face in its ongoing reconstruction process. The final outcome, however, is a book that, in addition to dealing with those challenges, provides a general portrait of the secessionist north-western part of Somalia, a rare success story of post-conflict reconstruction and credited, by South African academic Iqbal Jhazbhay, as ‘Africa’s best kept secret’. WSP’s Somaliland programme generated two different types of written document. First, there is the ‘self-portrait’, which was intended to build ‘a foundation of information and analysis on which a national discourse of post-war priorities could subsequently take place’ (p. 359). Second, there are four ‘entry points’ (the results of workshops and working group deliberations) that aim to portray the ‘debates and concerns of the Somaliland community’ (p. 360) and advance an analysis of, and recommendations for, the relevant issues. It is these five written products that form the core of the book. The introductory chapter is a succinct version of the (previously published) Self-Portrait of Somaliland, which provides an overview of Somaliland’s history and the plethora of perceived challenges in political, economic, and social rebuilding. The four ‘entry points’ (chapters 3–6) deal with various issues. Chapter 3 addresses political representation, decentralization of administration, taxation, and equity in the context of Somaliland’s transition from the clan-based ‘beel system’ to a multiparty democracy. Chapter 4 explores the role of the media in Somaliland’s democratization process. Chapter 5 examines the important issue of regulation of Somaliland’s livestock economy. And finally, chapter 6 examines the changing values, roles, and relationships within the family, the socio-economic effects of qaad use on the family, and social support systems for the post-war family. In addition to these five texts, the book has a chapter on the specific Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodology used in the research (chapter 2) and an external evaluation of the project (chapter 7).