Somali Canadian Diaspora Alliance

The Third Annual Somali Cause Conference Calls the Diaspora Communities to Support a National Agenda

The third Annual Somali Cause conference that took place in Toronto just concluded with a call to the Somali Diaspora communities to support the agenda of the National Unity Government of Somalia. It also called for a peaceful resolution of differences through dialogue.

The outgoing president of Somali Cause

The conference was held on April 24 & 25, 2009 and the theme of the conference was Embracing Change for Durable Peace, Justice and Prosperity in Somalia. The conference attendees also reflected on the accomplishments of the past year 2008 and planned for the challenges that faced Somalia in the year 2009 and beyond. This conference was hosted by Somali Canadian Diaspora Alliance, a member organization of Somali Cause.

On Friday April 24, 2009 the conference organizers held a town hall consultation meeting with experts and with the wider Somali community in Canada. This format allowed an opportunity for the member organizations to exchange ideas and propose recommendations for future work. Moreover, Somali Cause member organizations reflected on the past year to evaluate its performance and adopted the modified bylaws. Elections were held to put the new steering committee in place, which in turn elected Abdirizak Omar Mohamed as the chair of Somali Cause for the upcoming year as mandated by the bylaws. Mr. Keyse Said was elected the vice-chair along with the other executives and a draft plan for 2009 was completed. Somali Cause plans to expand its base in the upcoming year, play an active role in improving the lives of the people of Somalia and garner support for peaceful transition in Somalia by lobbying the governments and lawmakers in Canada and United States. Co-operation with other individuals and/or organizations is to be expanded to achieve the goals set out in the draft plan.

On Saturday April 25, 2009 guest speakers with a wide array of perspectives and expertise made presentations and recommendations. They emphasized on the challenges to find peace in Somalia and possible avenues to rebuild it.

The speakers were both from the U.S. and Canada, such as Dr. Paul Comacho, Dr. Hassan Mahadalle, Dr. Amina Mire, Mr. Abdulkadir Mohamud Aden (Jangali), Mr. Phil Taylor, Mr. Khalid Moamar, Mr. Keyse Said and Iman Salah. The conference attendees welcomed the adoption of Sharia law by the lawmakers in Somalia as proposed by the unity government and pointed out that it offers a way out of the current political crisis in Somalia. In addition, they warned against the politicization of clan identities which may lead to more bloodshed as has been happening in many parts of Africa. Moreover, the outgoing chair of Somali Cause Mr. Abdulkadir Abdirahman (Utah) spoke about the accomplishment of Somali Cause in 2008 and discussed the challenges that were faced in the past year. He also presented the Somali Cause 2008 annual report. A video that highlighted the past activities of Somali Cause and member organizations was shown to the audience of the conference.

In a question-answer period, the conference attendees showed their outrage at the ongoing violence in Somalia and advised Somali Cause to send a delegation to speak directly with the conflicting parties. The conference ended with a call to the people of Somalia to unite and to support the national agenda for peace and to end the suffering of the people of Somalia.