York University’s Faculty of Education, Centre for Refugee Studies and the Borderless Higher Education for Refugees (BHER) Project will be hosting the “Together for Peace in Somalia Film Screening and Rebuilding Somalia Panel” event on Feb. 16 at 9 a.m.
The event will begin with a screening of the short film Together for Peace by Diirad Films, followed by a panel discussion with York University alumna Hawa Sabriye, who works with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) in Mogadishu, Somalia, and as a Humanitarian Affairs Officer; Maryan Noor Madobe, a former BHER beneficiary who graduated from Kenyatta University and works with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in protection field; as well as Jama Ahmed Mohamed who came to the Dadaab refugee camps in 1991 and finished his post-secondary education from the BHER program. He is currently working as an English language lecture teacher as well as an academic chairperson for the English department at Puntland University State in Garowe, Somalia.
The panellists will reflect on the documentary and discuss their work within and outside of the education sector. They will focus on the opportunities and challenges of creating a new Somalia while moving away from mainstream media narratives outside of Somalia that frame the country in terms of conflict, crisis and chaos. The panel will move beyond myopic representations to explore the varied stories of teachers, activists and others working to rebuild Somalia and enact a peaceful future in the Horn of Africa.
This event is a part of the BHER Speaker Series 2021-2022 Reciprocal Learning Beyond Crisis. The BHER Speaker Series remains the first of its kind hosted at the Faculty of Education that equally features experts from York University and from institutions that are comprised of or work with refugees.
To learn more about the panellists and join the virtual event, click here.