Equal Access Supports Security and Justice Initiatives in Somalia

Given each of their long-term commitments to working closely with communities to build solutions in targeted areas, EAI and our partners have the support and trust of communities across Jubaland and Southwest State. Building on this trust, each is instrumental in coordinating the project’s social and behavior and norms change interventions in partnership with local media organizations as part of the Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) component of Nabadgelinta.

Nabadgelinta aims to improve how Somalis view and access services by identifying security and justice priorities through the Area Based Problem identification process. Through community-led discussions, this process pinpoints the top priorities by Somalis in violence-prone areas, where people are compelled to work together toward lasting solutions.

Current areas of focus include digital abuse in the form of technology-facilitated gender-based violence and the lack of digital privacy laws; rampant bribery and corruption, which requires strengthening the independence of the judiciary, including comprehensive training and provision of resources for judges and court staff; and a police hotline to report crimes to build greater trust between communities and police.

Nabadgelinta fosters input and perspective from marginalized groups, many for the very first time, toward creating sustainable solutions for their communities. The project draws strategies from UNICEF’s Behavior Drivers Model, which leverages program-wide formative research including drivers, barriers, and contributing factors that influence security and justice-seeking behaviors and norms among Somali citizens. The model also considers the influence of resources such as money, land, and services.

The project ensures that local stakeholders have the skills needed to support similar interventions beyond the life of the Nabadgelinta project. A Knowledge, Attitudes, Behavior, Vision and Motivation (KABVM) study informs the project, highlighting gaps in the interaction between society and state and how to narrow them by providing sustainable security and justice services to targeted communities.

Since 2018 EAI has worked consistently with Somali speakers, beginning with the Somali Voices project (2018-2023), which increased the resilience of Somali-speaking communities in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. The project aimed to reduce the influence of criminal and violent extremist movements, with an emphasis on strengthening local capacity to counter al-Shabaab’s recruitment efforts and shifting attitudes related to violence.