Somaliland's investment in peace : analysing the diaspora's economic engagement in peace building

Introduction: Since 1991 the people of Somaliland have successfully established a peaceful and relatively stable state and community. They have managed a process of reconciliation, demobilized the local militias, restored law and order, and held three rounds of peaceful elections. Much of the urban infrastructure and basic social services destroyed during the war (1988-1991) have been re-established. Peace and stability allowed normal patterns of trade and other economic activities to resume, and thousands of refugees came back from neighbouring countries. However, despite being the most stable polity within the territory of the former Somali Republic, Somaliland has not been recognized internationally as a state, and thus it has not received the kind of international support given to many other post-conflict countries. In the early 1990s few international organizations were willing to support internal reconciliation, establish security through disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, or promote democratization and development. Instead, peace building has been achieved by Somalis themselves, supported in part by the Somaliland diaspora,1 which has sent remittances, undertaken business and social investment, and helped to re-establish or rehabilitate basic services. [Continues