Campaign Status

Ongoing Offline: The campaign is currently ongoing offline and, thus still in the process of collecting funds. Yet, the campaign has achieved successful funding of $3,901 via the LaunchGood crowdfunding platform.

Summary

The initiative will assist 10 young women students with tuition, school supplies, food, medical care, and accommodation at Somalia's first female university. 

Challenge

Situated in Baliga-Cas, a small village 25 km north of Hargeisa, Somaliland, Barwaaqo University is the first residential university for young women. It stands as the sole educational institution in Somaliland to provide Montessori Certification.

Barwaaqo emerged in response to the pressing need in Somaliland for a high-quality higher education institution, especially for women. The initial phase introduced the School of Education, dedicated to training young Somali women to assume leadership roles in classrooms, thereby shaping the future generation of Somali youth across the nation. Notably, fewer than 13% of all professional educators, and less than 3% of headteachers, in Somaliland are women.

Solution

Barwaaqo University’s School of Education not only empowers women and creates job opportunities but also provides young girls with the chance to have a teacher who resembles them.

The class of 16 exceptional teachers recently graduated from the School of Education, marking a milestone for the only all-female residential university in Somaliland. Fourteen of these graduates were directly employed by the Abaarso Network Kaabe Schools, a sister school system to Abaarso and Barwaaqo.

At present, Barwaaqo University, with a student body of 130, provides scholarship assistance to 98% of these students. Capitalizing on its achievements and in response to demand from both the private sector and potential students, Barwaaqo University aspires to extend support to an additional 10 students in the fall 2022 semester.