Academy for Development and Advocacy of Minorities

A trade, a classroom, a voice.

ADAM works with Somaliland’s minority communities so that young people leave with a skill in their hands and a place in public life.

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Education & Knowledge Development

Every child in the classroom.

School places, uniforms, teacher training and adult literacy — removing whatever it is that keeps a minority child out of school.

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Job Creation & Skills Development

Skills that pay, tools that last.

Welding, mechanics, construction and tailoring — taught to a real standard, and followed by the toolkit to start work the same week.

Fund a toolkit Our programmes

Social Welfare & Humanitarian Support

Support that reaches the household.

Grants, vouchers and essentials delivered through community committees, with selection criteria agreed openly and lists published locally.

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Media, Communications & Social Media

Minority stories, told in the open.

Radio, television and social media coverage that puts minority voices into Somaliland’s national conversation.

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Human Rights & Civic Participation

Equal citizens, in law and in practice.

Legal awareness, access to justice, voter registration and support for minority candidates in Somaliland’s elections.

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2010 Founded in Hargeisa

10 Programme areas

6 Regions reached

100% Minority-led

ADAM-supported students at their graduation ceremony

2010 Founded in Hargeisa by minority students

Who we are

The only academy in Somaliland founded and led by minority intellectuals.

ADAM was founded in early 2010 by a group of young Somaliland minority students in Hargeisa, and works on the development of minority communities through advocacy, awareness raising and the promotion of schooling. It is a non-profit, non-governmental, non-political voluntary organisation, officially registered as a local NGO by the Ministry of National Planning and Development.

ADAM was created and mandated to advocate for minority communities in Somaliland to enjoy their rights on the same terms as every other citizen — and to dismantle the stereotypes and ethnic discrimination that push these communities to the social, economic, political and educational margins.

More about ADAM Governance & accountability

What we do

Ten programmes, one purpose

Education is where ADAM started. Everything else exists because a school place alone does not survive discrimination, poverty, poor health or exclusion from public life.

Education & Knowledge Development

Scholarships, school enrolment drives, teacher training and adult literacy so that minority children and young people learn alongside everyone else.

Health & Community Wellbeing

Health awareness, hygiene and sanitation, outbreak response, and referral support so minority families can actually reach the care they are entitled to.

Job Creation & Skills Development

Vocational training in welding, mechanics, construction, tailoring and small business, followed by toolkits, start-up grants and job placement.

Social Welfare & Humanitarian Support

Food, bedding, clothing and emergency assistance for the most vulnerable minority households, delivered with dignity and linked to longer-term support.

Human Rights & Advocacy

Legal awareness, access to justice, case referral and evidence-based advocacy against ethnic discrimination in Somaliland.

Social Inclusion & Community Integration

Consultations, dialogue and joint initiatives that bring minority and majority communities into the same room — and into shared services.

Democracy, Elections & Civic Participation

Voter education, registration support, civic participation campaigns and support for minority candidates in Somaliland’s electoral processes.

Community Awareness & Public Engagement

Forums, workshops, campaigns and grassroots mobilisation on discrimination, education, health, drugs and the value of minority participation.

International Delegations & Partnerships

Hosting international delegations, building donor and diaspora partnerships, and representing minority communities in national and international forums.

Media, Communications & Social Media

Radio, television, print and social media campaigns that counter stereotypes and put minority voices into the national conversation.

Our vision

Educated, capable minority youth, free from illiteracy, discrimination, drugs and tribalism — able to resist socio-cultural bias and stereotype, to stand for the development of their communities, and to be role models for change.

Our mission

To advance minority education and promote minority participation in democracy, and to sustain those gains. ADAM is gender-sensitive by design and mobilises minority communities so that women take an active part in every initiative.

Our commitments

ADAM works to international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and on Civil and Political Rights.

Objectives

What the Academy set out to do

Unity through education

To create unity among all minority communities by empowering and enhancing their educational capacity and building unique skills through specialised training — building confidence to resist socio-cultural stereotypes and discrimination.

Protection and rights

To provide minorities a user-friendly protection mechanism and empower them to claim their basic human rights, including economic development, political participation and education.

Marketable vocational skills

To establish vocational skills training centres tailored to the needs, availability and desires of the communities we serve, producing high-quality, marketable work.