We promote and expand education through multiple initiatives, which include:

Vision Center for Languages & Training:

In late 2014, Iftin Foundation launched the Vision Center for Languages and Training to respond to the skill needs of the young generation. The Center builds the capacity of the people in all education and career stages through short courses.

From September to December 2014, more than 250 people have attended different courses at Vision Center, including English language proficiency, job search skills, thesis writing, and research methodology.

Girls & Adult Education:

Somalia has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world. Adults and women are particularly affected. Therefore, Iftin Foundation seeks to promote literacy through multiple initiatives. We believe people who can read enjoy better health, make more money, create safer and more stable countries, and serve their communities more effectively.

Through our initiatives, we raise the public awareness towards enrolling more girls in schools, encourage them to stay in school and make sure they graduate with the knowledge and skills that can help them and their families.

In this regard, Iftin Foundation regularly organizes the ‘Somali Secondary Schoolgirls Competition’, which is now in its third year. Every year, 32 schools send seven girls each to represent their school. The competition’s popularity has been raised by Plasma University, which contributed scholarships to the participants from the winning and runners-up schools.

Peace & Civic Education:

Iftin Foundation promotes peace and civic education because both can bring a lasting positive change in Somalia and instill a culture of peace and citizenship in the future generation of this country.

Our ‘Peace Education’ initiative promotes the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will help people either to prevent the occurrence of conflict, resolve conflicts peacefully, or create social conditions conducive to peace. “If we are to create peace in our world we must begin with our children,” Mahatma Gandhi once said. We have published a booklet that can be used as a source for a future curriculum on this subject.

We also promote civic education for sustainable positive change because that will play an important role in the emergence of a more active and engaged citizenry. Our work will enhance the participation of the community in the realization of their roles and responsibilities.

We believe education can be achieved with more than just a textbook. As such, our flagship ‘Education through Media’ project empowers people to help unveil their full potential and deepen their desire to learn. Media is an important tool to help the young people and other education stakeholders to step up, voice their concerns, learn new skills and fight for change.

As media is a cost-effective tool to teach a large number of people, Iftin Foundation has launched Somalia’s first radio and TV stations dedicated to education:

Iftin Radio and TV:

Iftin Radio & TV stations were launched on 10^th July 2012 as Somalia’s first educational radio and TV stations (Radio Iftin and Iftin TV) to promote education through media. The stations aim to respond to the education needs of the Somali people and to supplement the existing educational systems by covering issues that are not discussed at schools and universities.

The stations’ programming feature educational news, programs presented by students at their schools or universities, lectures by teachers, phone-in programs that answer students’ questions on scientific subjects, debates, among others. For more information, please visit www.radioiftin.com and www.iftintv.com.

Educational Content maker and provider:

Iftin Foundation is now developing a rich database of most relevant, high quality educational content in Somali language. The content will be used for both school/university and media across Somalia to augment the education of students who are eager to learn, while also engaging those in the traditional classroom. Such programs are regularly uploaded to an account where interested parties can download. Also as connectivity is limited in Somalia, we will deliver the content in DVDs or external hard disks.

Iftin Foundation regularly conducts researches and publishes its findings so that the stakeholders are better informed. The following are our publications in the last two years:

1. Somali Education Directory: We published the first-ever Somali Education Directory that lists local educational institutions at both secondary school and university levels. Now in its second edition, the directory is now the first reference for those interested in Somalia education.
2. Top 10 University Facebook Pages: IF tracks how universities in Somalia make use of the digital media, especially the Facebook. We have issued Somalia’s Top 10 Universities Facebook pages for the second time in November 2014.
3. Top Achievers List: IF published the ‘Top Achievers List’, which lists the top position holders in Somalia’s primary and secondary school-leaving certificates. Using our list, Hormud Telecom Foundation has provided scholarships to all the top position holders of the primary school-leaving certificates during their secondary school education starting from 2014/15 school year.
4. Kadis: IF published Kadis (Quiz in Somali), which a booklet that contains more than 2,000 questions and their answers on science, geography, history, Islam, maths, and general knowledge. The questions were used for quizzes broadcast live on nine radio stations based in Somalia. Before this initiative, such questions were never recorded after their use for radio programming.

Iftin Foundation also organizes conferences and exhibitions that are related to education. The Education Fair brings together all major educational institutions and helps them showcase their services to the nation. The education exhibitions are aimed at showcasing the variety of career choices open to Somali secondary schools students at local universities.

Iftin Foundation campaigns to improve career guidance and promoting a better engagement between employment and education. We, therefore, help the Somali young people in their career choices, as too many young people have to make vital and incredibly important decisions about their futures without enough access to good information.

Iftin has a comprehensive package aimed at helping secondary school students, university students and graduates and other job seekers throughout the career ladder. Our programs include information, workshops, networking and other opportunities:

1. JobLink Somalia:so is an online job search portal that lists all jobs available at government, business, education, NGOs and other employers.
2. Newspaper and radio Program: We also have a dedicated newspaper for job vacancies Shaqo-doon (job seeker in Somali) and a daily radio program that announces job vacancies. It was the first program of its on any Somali radio station.
3. Career Counseling Book and Radio program: Our radio program on career counseling helps students and their parents decide which course or university their child will go to after finishing the secondary school through a booklet and a weekly radio program. They provide academic counseling in various subjects and respond to students’ queries since generally, the secondary schools in Somalia do not have in-house career counseling services.
4. Job Placement: We help universities establish placement offices so that their graduates can easily find jobs.

Iftin Foundation has special programs targeted towards promotion of sports in Somalia. We believe a sport is a great tool for peace and development and can be used as an effective way to communicate with youth.

To achieve, IF supports Gool FM, Somalia’s first all-sports radio station (www.goolfm.net). Through this station, the youth can be engaged to get involved in productive hobbies.

The objectives of this program include:

• Use sports as a community behavior-changing tool in all aspects of life.
• Cooperating with the existing sports governing bodies in addressing the challenges facing the sports fraternity of Somalia.
• Promote sports media in Somalia and provide them with resources in order to provide reliable information to the sports lovers and administrators in their own language and give them a platform for debates and interaction.
• Educating the general public about the power of sports to act as an instrument for peace and development. We, therefore, promote peace, reconciliation, and social interaction among communities through sports.
• Developing local robust sports industry that creates economic opportunities for the youth.
• Promote the profile of young people with sports talent who have the potential for success both in the country and abroad.
• Promoting best sports practices among the players through media and training.
• Draw the attention of the young people from violence, drugs, etc to a more decent life through sports.