wfn.org | AFSC: Somalia Director in U.S.

[RByler@afsc.org]

For Immediate Release
October 17, 1996
Contact:  J.Ron Byler (215/241-7060)
or Aishah Shahidah Simmons (215/241-7056)

AFSC Director in Somalia Will Visit the U.S., October 24-November 17

PHILADELPHIA -- Mohamed Abdirahman, director in Somalia for the American
Friends Service Committee (AFSC), will speak in Philadelphia, Seattle,
Chicago, New York and Oakland, October 24 - November 17, 1996, to appeal for
continued support for a community development program in one of the world's
poorest countries.  Following widespread famine in August 1992 and
subsequent US and UN troop intervention and withdrawal, AFSC continues
development work in Somali villages, despite security concerns that have
caused many other international aid organizations to abandon the country.
	"Our mission is to reduce the suffering and increase the economic security
of the most socially and ethnically marginalized groups," says Mohamed
Abdirahman, who has worked with AFSC in Somalia for almost 15 years and has
directed AFSC's urban and rural work since 1991.  Somali communities
continue to respond to their situation with efforts that go beyond mere
survival, slowly rebuilding their livelihood.
	Between 1991 to 1995, AFSC's work in Somalia focused on reconstruction and
agricultural development, combined with relief assistance for displaced
groups in Mogadishu and Afgoi.  After food production increased
significantly in the seventeen villages AFSC assisted in the Lower Shabelle
region south of Mogadishu, Mohamed and AFSC staff have begun a new
agricultural development program in thirteen villages in the sub-district of
Aw-Dheegle District, about 45 miles southwest of Mogadishu. 
 	"In addition to working with rural Somali women on health concerns, AFSC
is incorporating them in the agricultural program which teaches new farmers
new skills in 
organic farming and animal husbandry and provides them tools and seeds,"
says Nancy Benson, assistant coordinator of AFSC Africa programs.  AFSC is
also assisting two income-generating projects for women - a soap-making
cooperative in Mogadishu and a traditional cloth-making project in the Afgoi
District.
	Mohamed Abdirahman's work experience makes him especially qualified for
planning and administering the relief and development program work of the
fourteen AFSC staff in the region.  Prior to joining the AFSC staff, he
worked with the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization as a Somali
ministerial representative.  He was also director of the Somali unit for
research on emergencies and rural development.  From 1980 to 1988, Mohamed
was a member of the national technical committee on rural development, as
well as the director for food aid and disasters in the Ministry of the Interior.
	Following short-term work with Somali refugees in 1982-83, AFSC initiated
programs in northeast Somalia, the first US agency to work directly on the
local level in that area.  Until armed conflict erupted in 1989, AFSC
programs aided former nomads to increase food production by improving water
control and farming techniques.  In 1992-93, AFSC provided emergency relief
assistance to several communities of displaced persons in Mogadishu and two
orphanages in Afgoi, as well as a college, hospital and three communal
kitchens.  Because AFSC worked in Somalia before the civil war and has
maintained a presence in Somalia with an all-Somali staff in-country, AFSC
is well-suited to implement programs of relief, rehabilitation,
reconciliation and development," says Benson.
	For more information, please contact Aishah Shahidah Simmons, AFSC media
relations assistant, at 215/241-7056.
-30-
The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization which
includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace
and humanitarian service.  Its work is based on the Quaker belief in the
worth of every person, and faith in the power of love to overcome violence
and injustice.
J.Ron Byler
Director of Media Relations
American Friends Service Committee
PH: 215/241-7060
FAX: 215/241-7275
E-MAIL: RByler@afsc.org
http://www.afsc.org