Heritage Institute for Policy Studies (Mogadishu-based think tank)

[Safferz]

What do you guys know about this group? Where did they come from and who funds them? What do Somalis think of them? And why did they choose a name so similar to the awful US-based Heritage Foundation?

[Wadani]

Safferz;955566 wrote:

What do you guys know about

this group

? Where did they come from and who funds them? What do Somalis think of them? And why did they choose a name so similar to the awful US-based

Heritage Foundation

?

D/P

[Wadani]

Think tank by HAG for HAG interests..that's how they r viewed by some. Not me though. I like the idea of Somalia having a think tank that can potentially set the agenda for public policy.

[Safferz]

Wadani;955570 wrote:

Think tank by HAG for HAG interests..that's how they r viewed by some. Not me though. I like the idea of Somalia having a think tank that can potentially set the agenda for public policy.

But is it really a Somali think tank though? It seems to be full of cadaan researchers and academics. I'm also really curious about where they get their funding.

[Wadani]

Safferz;955574 wrote:

But is it really a Somali think tank though?

It seems to be full of cadaan researchers and academics

. I'm also really curious about where they get their funding.

I didn't know that. I thought it was comprised mainly of Somali academics. I know the main face of the group is Abdi Aynte, the Somali-American journalist who worked for Al-jazeera.

[Haatu]

Horta just what do these self-styled intellectual super weights actually do?

[Safferz]

Wadani;955576 wrote:

I didn't know that. I thought it was comprised mainly of Somali academics. I know the main face of the group is Abdi Aynte, the Somali-American journalist who worked for Al-jazeera.

The fellows seem to be split, but I know there are cadaan researchers behind the scenes too.

 

Haatu;955581 wrote:

Horta just what do these self-styled intellectual super weights actually do?

They do research on topics/issues relevant to public policy, and release reports on them and make policy recommendations. They're quite new, I think so far they have a report on Somali refugees in Kenya and a review of the president's first 100 days in office.

[Tallaabo]

I see no difference between them and the countless Somali tabloid websites with "expert" commentary.

[Safferz]

Tallaabo;955632 wrote:

I see no difference between them and the countless Somali tabloid websites with "expert" commentary.

I'm not an impartial commentator here but I do believe that research, knowledge production and analysis is critical, and having institutions independent of the government (if Somalia is similar to Somaliland in this way, even universities come under the jurisdiction of the government so academic freedom is not guaranteed) monitoring political developments is important in forging a healthy and open political culture and society. But I would like to know more about this particular think tank, especially their origins and funding sources.

[Tallaabo]

Saffy I doubt you will ever find any information about their funding. They are probably one more organ of the many competing foreign regimes who are there on the ground to influence the affairs of the people of Somalia.

[Safferz]

Tallaabo;955641 wrote:

Saffy I doubt you will ever find any information about their funding. They are probably one more organ of the many competing foreign regimes who are there on the ground to influence the affairs of the people of Somalia.

I was hoping some SOLers may know or have heard some things

[SomaliPhilosopher]

^Qatar dee

[Safferz]

Interesting.

[nuune]

I got this one from HIS website:

 

Fursad Tababar Cilmi Baaris

(Fellowship)

 

Machadka Daraasaadka ee Heritage Institute waxa uu ku wargelinayaa ardayda haysata

shahaadada bachelor-ka ama dhiganaya ama dhammeeyey master degree-ga

in Macadku uu bixinayo afar fursadood (4 fellowships) oo midkiiba soconayo 3 bilood oo tababar cilmi-baaris oo gacan ku hayn ah (hands-on), tababarkaas oo lagu bixinayo xarunta Macadka ee Muqdisho.

 

Shuruudaha:

 

In uu ardaygu haysto ugu yaraan

shahaadada bachelor-ka oo la ictiraafsan yahay

; kuna haysto culuumta bulshada sida siyaasadda, sharciga, waxbarashada, iwm;

The founder of this group is not a DEGREE holder yet, this is confirmed by nomads on SOL who went university with him many many years ago, he is drop out student, sorry to those who are related Aynte but telling the truth doesn't hurt anyone and might motivate the Aynte to do more and get the skills required to run such a project, at least he needs to have what he is telling students to have!

 

That is enough qarxis for the day.

[LayZie G.]

Who are the sponsors of the first think tank in Somalia?

The Indian Ocean Newsletter

February 01, 2013

 

 

The Heritage Institute for Policy Studies (HIPS)

 

The Heritage Institute for Policy Studies (HIPS), the first think tank in Mogadishu which was launched on 15 January, states it is an independent non-partisan research centre. However, a number of the institute`s sponsors and officials have links with the Islamic group Ahlu Sheikh which is close to the Muslim Brotherhood and Qatar. Moreover, one of Ahlu Sheikh`s eminent members is the former President of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. The director of HIPS, Abdi Aynte, a former journalist with the BBC, Voice of America and Al Jazeera English, is the son of one Sheikh Sharif`s political allies and a partisan of Ahlu Sheikh. The deputy director of HIPS, Abdirashid Khalif Hashi, is a former minister under Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo, the former Prime Minister of the TFG affiliated to Ahlu Sheikh. Fahad Yasin Haji Dahir, who is close to the current minister Farah Sheikh Abdiqadir [Farah Sakiin] and a former Al Jazeera journalist, is another key figure in the HIPS.

 

According to a source in Somalia, he played a role in channelling funds from Qatar to finance the election campaign last year of the current President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Qatar could therefore also contribute to HIPS`s funding. HIPS`s other sponsors are Somalian businessmen, with trading links with Sheikh Sharif and with Turkey. Moreover, the Turkish ambassador to Somalia, Cemalettin Kani Torun, was present at the launch of HIPS in Mogadishu. This think tank also has an international aspect, as it includes a number of foreign “stars”, such as BBC journalist Mary Harper, Laura Hammond, senior lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and Jason Mosley, Associate Fellow of the UK think tank Chatham House.

 

 

Source:http://www.biyokulule.com/view_content.php?articleid=5719

 

 

This is not reliable but atleast its a start. Whether Qatar is involved it remains to be seen. But I have a suggestion to the poster, why not apply for a fellowship? I'm almost certain that you will get it.