History

In 1996, a group of Somali Diaspora in the Netherlands came together to discuss the situation in their home country. They shared the wish to contribute to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Somalia. After several meetings they decided to establish a foundation with the aim to deliver development and humanitarian aid to Somalia. HIRDA was formally established in 1998 in The Netherlands. The organization chooses as its main priority: basic education for children, both girls and boys.

Its first activity was to raise funds from the Somali community in the Netherlands to support primary schools in Bardere (Gedo region) and later also in Abudwaaq (Galgaduud region) Hiiraan (central somalia), Mogadisho (south Somalia),lower juba and Garaád (puntland). HIRDA has shown the Somali Diaspora and international donors that it is able to contribute to the development of the country, especially basic education, from abroad. Due to the success of the first projects the demand for HIRDA’s work increased. HIRDA started to obtain funds from donor organizations.

From 2001 until 2005 HIRDA received subsidies from different donor organizations on a project basis. In 2004 Oxfam Novib offered HIRDA the opportunity to get more structural funding. HIRDA’s three year plan 2005-2007 was approved by the Linkis program of Oxfam Novib. Meanwhile HIRDA also succeeded in getting project funding from other donors and organized activities in the Netherlands which met two aims: Firstly, to raise awareness of the development situation in Somalia and secondly, to contribute to the integration of Somali youth in The Netherlands.

The number of projects executed in Somalia increased substantially and diversified. Besides education also projects on health, small scale food production, micro credit loans, quality and accessibility of water, empowerment of women, amongst others, were developed. The organizational capacity of HIRDA Somalia adapted to this situation. HIRDA Somalia was able to run the projects and at the same time succeeded in getting additional funding from organizations like UNICEF, WFB and WHO. To realize additional capacity for fundraising among Somali Diaspora, North America and HIRDA UK were created.