An evaluation of Somali youth programs in Canada

Abstract

Since the early 1990s a growing Somali diaspora has been identified mainly in the west due to Somalia’s unstable political and economic conditions. Somali communities residing in Muslim minority countries face many challenges that hinder many facets of life. In Canada, unofficial records, reported that approximately 150,000 Somalis reside within Edmonton, Toronto and Ottawa. Due to the lack of a proper family structure Somali youth have become victims of a failed social structure; that begins with their deficiency in education and employment, along with their high level of criminality and incarceration. Unfortunately for many Somali males these struggles lead to their fatal deaths. Therefore, the Canadian government, local authorities and Somali communities have collaborated together to combat these struggles faced by Somali youth. As a result, youth programs have been established in Somali communities across the country in order to positively develop Somali youth in the Canadian society as productive citizens. This research provides a descriptive and comparative analysis on Somali Youth programs in Toronto, Edmonton and Ottawa. The goal of this research was to examine youth programs in these three cities based on the five Cs model. A total of 190 questionnaires were distributed and five semi-structured interviews were conducted with Somali youth in the three cities. 70.5% of Somali youth have participated in youth programs for longer than three months. The findings suggest that youth are more likely to stay in youth programs for longer periods of time after participating for longer than a month. The mean scores of 3.8 (competence), 3.7 (confidence), 4.2 (connection), 2.9 (character), and 3.1 (caring), suggest that overall, Somali youth programs do provide opportunities to enhance youth development. When the total means scores for all five Cs were combined, the three cities showed to have the same average over all with slight variations. Edmonton scored the lowest for competence however; it displayed the highest means in all other areas. Toronto showed to have the lowest confidence and connection mean scores out of all the cities. Ottawa had the lowest mean score by far in comparison to the other two cities. It had 2.7 for character, which was an all-time low, no other city, scored lower than the average mean. This research concluded that based on the five Cs model; both the questionnaires and interviews determined that, Somali youth programs in Canada effectively promote and enhance positive youth development.