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IDS Seminar on Mobilising Aid While Constituting Ethnic Groups: The Role Of Mosques And Kinship Associations

     
2.00pm - 3.30pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZApd-6orDIiGtCPkBcjzc_wv9Oj3i5hJnGX

IDS Seminar on Mobilising Aid While Constituting Ethnic Groups: The Role Of Mosques And Kinship Associations

This article centers on the neglected role of the near Somali diaspora in mobilizing and delivering humanitarian support to Somalia. We argue that the debate concerning aid in Somalia has concentrated on international organizations and underplays the complexity of humanitarian support. Focusing on mosques and kinship associations in Nairobi, we ask how Somalis in Kenya coordinate and administer humanitarian support for Somalia. To address this question, we analyzed online lectures by Islamic clerics and conducted in-depth interviews, along with three focus group discussions in Eastleigh (Kenya) and Mogadishu (Somalia), encompassing both donors and recipients of diaspora aid. We found that mosques and clan associations are used in distinct approaches when responding to humanitarian crises in Somalia. They target different social groups. While mosques mobilize aid during spectacular events, usually some form of disaster that affects larger population groups, kinship associations tend to restrict their aid to their own clan group or, at the very least, locations where their clan dominates. Both forms of humanitarian aid constitute mechanisms for preserving and maintaining long-distance relationships within the cultural boundaries of religion and clan.

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