Our History
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has" – Margaret Mead
We are a group of Somali-Canadians committed to making a difference in this world, one family at a time and one community at a time. In 2017, this organization was formed because our sisters and their families in Somalia desperately reached out to us for help. This charity would not be possible without a dedicated group of Somali women behind our team, and they are the driving force behind this charity.
Somalia is experiencing the longest humanitarian crisis in recent history. The civil war destroyed almost everything, and the effect of the war has ravaged Somalia for over two decades – continued armed conflict, little to no support from the fledgling post-war government, and weak infrastructure that intensifies widespread poverty. Today, there are many cities and villages that are under the Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist organization known as Al-Shabaab. Families living in these high-risk areas are under violence, and vulnerable to abuse and are unable to receive much support from outside because of safety concerns. The increase of environmental stresses, including droughts and famine have resulted in a further exacerbation of distress upon the people of Somalia.
Not only are areas hard to reach because of terrorist influence, there are many other regions that are simply remote and not very accessible or are difficult to reach through common means of transport, and those are the communities that we are aiming to help today.
The new generations of Somali youth have known nothing but war, and families are mentally and physically exhausted with no idea when things will get better. Somalia is reaching a critical point in its history. Immediate action must be taken in order to uplift and empower the next generation of Somalis and their society.
Over ninety percent of the Somali diaspora sends money directly to their family in Somalia every month. Though this has a huge positive impact on families’ basic well-being, it is insufficient for addressing the greater socioeconomic needs at a community level. The most meaningful support for quality of life could be better addressed through organized effort to build self-sufficiency and sustainable growth of the people.
To this end, Illeys International Development Foundation’s focused areas of work are water supply, agriculture, healthcare, as well as poverty and disaster relief.
The Somali situation in numbers:
12 million: The estimated population of Somalia.
2.6 million: The number of people displaced within the country (IDPs).
2.1 million: the number of Somali people facing acute food insecurity.
750 000: The number of Somali refugees living in neighbouring countries.
70%: The population under the age of 30, thus a vast majority of those affected by poverty are youth and children.
82%: The percent of Somalis that are poor across multiple dimensions (health, education, standard of living).
