Founded in Hargeisa in 2010 by minority students, for minority communities.
The Academy for Development and Advocacy of Minorities (ADAM) was founded by a group of young Somaliland minority students in early 2010 in Hargeisa. It is the only academy in the country established by minority intellectuals to work on the development of minority communities — focusing on educational development through advocacy, awareness raising and the promotion of schooling initiatives.
ADAM is a non-profit, non-governmental and non-political voluntary organisation that works for its people to develop and prosper in Somaliland. It is officially registered by the Ministry of National Planning and Development as a local NGO.
ADAM was created and mandated to advocate for the minority communities in Somaliland to fully enjoy their rights, on the same terms as every other Somaliland citizen. The organisation works to eradicate the persistent stereotypes and ethnic-based discrimination that leave these communities socially, economically, politically and educationally marginalised — and that sometimes deprive them of their basic human rights altogether.
We therefore work through three connected mechanisms: raising awareness, advocating for rights, and building formal schooling and skills — so that minority communities improve educationally, socially, economically, politically and spiritually.
ADAM values and respects international human rights standards and instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and on Civil and Political Rights, and the wider body of treaties offering specific protection to vulnerable groups — minorities, women, people with disabilities, youth and children.
Two commitments follow from that. First, promoting respect for minority human rights is an indispensable purpose of the Academy. Second, promoting minority participation in education, in the socio-economic sector and in the political arena is our core area of work.
ADAM envisions educated, capable, intellectual minority youth who are free from illiteracy, discrimination, drugs and tribalism; who can resist socio-cultural bias and stereotype; who stand for the development of minorities; and who become role models for socio-cultural, attitudinal and economic change among marginalised groups.
ADAM works towards the development of minority education and the promotion of minority participation in democracy, and towards sustaining those gains. The organisation is gender-sensitive and responsive by design, and mobilises the minority population so that women take an active part in every initiative. Strengthening the minority movement through knowledge management and sharing, research, academic presentation and coalition-building is the basis of our work — lifting the socio-economic situation of the country as a whole by supporting skills development and the careers of minority technicians and individuals.
Objectives
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.
To provide minorities a user-friendly protection mechanism and empower them to claim their basic human rights, including economic development, political participation and education.
To establish vocational skills training centres tailored to the needs, availability and desires of the communities we serve, producing high-quality, marketable work.
To design and deliver advocacy and mobilisation programmes that drive minority growth, encouragement and social integration.
Strategy
Structure
Get involved
They are enrolling children, learning trades, standing for office and documenting what happens to them. Back that work.
