In Somalia, Schools Are a Bulwark Against Recruitment: Study

Somalia has been engaged in a civil war for almost 30 years, and with over 70 percent of its population under 30 years of age, youth and youth education appear to be the key to a peaceful future in the country.

Now, a new study has revealed that increasing access to high school education in war zones could help diminish support for armed groups. Research from the global organization Mercy Corps showed that young people in conflict-affected areas of Somalia who have access to secondary education are almost half as likely to support violent groups than those not in school.

“We found in general that the provision of secondary education by itself reduced the likelihood of young people supporting political violence by roughly 48 percent,” said Mercy Corps senior researcher Beza Tesfaye. The study also found that coupling education with civic engagement opportunities meant that young people were nearly 65 percent less likely to support violence.