Somali Knowledge Attitude Practices Study (KAPS) - EthnoMed

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Box 1: Snapshot of Political Landscape
The political landscape of Somalia is summed in the following quotation:
“Since the overthrow of the Siad Barre government in 1991, the resultant collapse of the
government structures and destruction of infrastructures, the ensuing civil war has brought
about widespread displacement and severe loss of life. Parts of Somalia remain beset by
conflict and division, prone to drought and vulnerable to flood. It has some of the worst child
and maternal survival indicators in the world. Somalia has little or no authoritative
government, high levels of criminality, sporadic armed conflict, an absence of economic recovery,
endemic humanitarian needs, minimal health care and education and population
displacement” UNICEF (2004, p.2).
A transitional National Government (TNG) was set up in 2000 that is still to make real impact in
consolidating the country into a cohesive whole. Nonetheless, the northern areas of the country
enjoy safety and security with the Northwest Somaliland having made remarkable progress
towards providing law and order hence securing tenuous peace (UNICEF, 2004). Parts of central
and southern Somalia are developing levels of governance, security and economic activity that
reflect a more stable environment. The clan continue to provide essential level of physical and
social security to many Somali households, despite its being a powerful force in contributing to
unstable alliances, diffusion of power and communal conflict over scarce resources. At grass-root
level, elders and other community leaders wield some political power and fill the vacuum in
governance structures at that level (UNICEF, 2004 p.3).
Gender discrimination is deeply rooted and remains a formidable barrier to women’s participation
in decision making processes including access to, and control of resources (UNICEF, 2004 p.3).
1.4 Methodology
Recruitment and training of field assistants
The generic field greater team comprised a minimum of six people and a maximum nine who
were then put into sub-teams comprising three people of whom one served as a moderator,
recorder/team leader and the third person assisted and served as a content control person to ensure
that all critical pieces of information were collected.
The team members were identified and selected by the FSAU staff on the ground with assistance
of staff from partner organizations. To confirm their eligibility, the consultant gave them written
and oral assessments. Those found to be inadequate were replaced by others who went through
the similar assessments. For the oral part, they were gauged during the session on self
introduction, expression of expectations and formulation of the rules that guided the team during
the whole exercise. For the written part, each did a short write-up on a selected topic that was
relevant to the study (e.g., brief write-up in English on the impact of conflict on breastfeeding in
the region (the region was specified; their own home regions). This made it possible to gauge
their capacities and subsequently was used to allocate them positions in the team.
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