It is undeniable that DOH faces many challenges in the wake of transition. These include the development and implementation of assistance programs for the disabled, disadvantaged, and vulnerable groups in Somaliland. DOH is playing an integral role in deploying sustainable projects aiming at building their socio-economic independence.

If I had to choose the best result of 2007, what would it be? Let's look into the impact of the 2007 projects on the target groups in the midterm and how the year 2007 was a different year for them.

One striking result is that the implemented initiatives in 2007 went further: beyond putting food on the table in terms of the microfinance program, beyond focusing only on mobility in terms of the rehabilitation program. What proved to be different in the program – besides accessing credit to 400 new direct beneficiaries, an expansion which benefited another 2800 indirect beneficiaries plus another 650 disabled persons – was that priority was given to other cross-cutting issues such as education and human rights. The linking of microfinance and the rehabilitation program to non-formal education was one clear example of the bold change in approach – resulting in the establishment of a vocational training centre, which started operations in May 2007.

It is fascinating to address access to financial services for the target group on one hand, and relating this to the giving of education and skills needed to safeguard the income-generating activities on the other. As seen by the beneficiaries, and by the mission of Doses of Hope, these are the ultimate instruments for linking the cause to the effect. The causes that we refer to here – poverty and physical challenges – are both linked to the effects, namely the lack of access to education and basic health services.

Although the impact of this initiative on the beneficiaries could only be statistically assessed in the near future, the businesses established through microfinance and the reintegration of the disabled community into the job market already assures us of sustainablility in the coming years.

Furthermore, Doses of hope has also undertaken, in 2008, broad strategies in lending, encouraging savings, intensifying outreach and promotion to ensure increased number of clients which we hope will eventually allow us to transform towards offering full financial services. The strategy entails spinning off the microfinance unit into an independent micro finance institution (MFI) with its own board and management structures. This will enable the new MFI, though governed fully by Doses of Hope Foundation, to take advantage of the potentials and opportunity in the financial market currently evolving in Somaliland.

It is equally important to mention the human rights aspect upon which the program embeds all its activities and how human dignity and integrity is protected at every step and turn of the program. The impact of these activities should not be underestimated. They facilitate the discussion of subjects that are not usually considered to be interrelated in Somaliland.

For instance, poverty is not regarded as a by-product of illiteracy and hence education is not seen as a tool to fight poverty. More alarming is the perception that poverty, lack of education, and lack of basic services are not considered equivalent to the lack of rights.

The year 2007 has also illuminated the lives of the visually impaired children and youth – a community left by its able society to vegetate miserably in darkness, even when Somalia had a state and a functioning government. Enabling these visually impaired children and young adults to learn Braille is for DOH another wonderful achievement of the year.

The smile on the faces of these children who are benefiting from the program offered could only be described by the children themselves. So I will leave it to them to write about it one day...

There is an increasing prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS among the general population in Somaliland^*. To enable the program to be responsive to the changes this creates, DOH mainstreamed HIV/AIDS into its program in 2005 and 2006, with the aim of mitigating its socio-economic impact on both DOH staff and beneficiaries of the program. Simultaneously, DOH embarked on a 2-year HIVAIDS awareness project that aims to train and educate 288 high risk women and men of reproductive age living in Hargeisa and Gabiely districts as peer educators and change agents.

The year 2007 also sheds light on the people and aid organizations that have made this work possible and have enabled the program to succeed. The impact of the work done by the staff and by the members of the board of DOH had made an immeasurable difference to the lives of the groups supported by the program.

Likewise DOH is indebted to the organizations who have contributed either financially or technically to DOH's program. Without their assistance it would have been difficult, if not impossible, for the organization to implement all these activities.

Fadumo Alin
Chairperson

^* According to a survey conducted by World Health Organization (WHO) in 2000, the prevalence rate of HIV/Aids among the population in Somaliland was 0.9, and in another survey conducted in 2003 it was 1.9.