Organization Background
Somali Youth Alliance Organization (SOYAO) is local non-governmental, nonpolitical and non-partisan youth-led civil society origination operating in
Somali Regional State, Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa and based in Addis Ababa
its Headquarter/ Head Office. It’s established by group of Somalis youth who
are diverse in profession and have extensive experience in the grassroot youth
community engagement with the intention to contribute to the reduction of the
development disparities between the deserved (pastoral communities, youth,
Women and children particularly girls from remote and emerging districts) and
the urban community or better served districts. SAYAO’s founders realized that
access differences of communities to services is excluding those remote, laying
peripheries and participants in the livelihood.
Youth, Children and Women of the underserved communities-pastoralist
appear to be paradox, from the point of view of official education they are
lagging behind in terms of enrolment, attendance, performance, achievement
and continuity to higher education. In gender balance, they usually score at the
bottom the ladder. Access to services like youth engagement, empowerment and
development as well as access to opportunity and resources is scuttlebutt for
them and rarely entertain the access to services they want, when and where
they want. Deliberating to contribute to the filling gap, SOYAO has been
established.
SOYAO is new emerging CSO lead by youth established in early of 20125 but
its approach is a characteristic of large and several years existing old
organization.