Φωτογραφίες

I met these friendly girls in Berbera, the largest seaside city in the former Somalia and also a significant port in the Horn of Africa.

Despite years of war in Somalia that left the country in complete disarray, compounded by the recent US and Ethiopian intervention, Somaliland largely escaped unscathed. The republic declared independence in 1991, forming a stable and a far more economically developed state than Somalia had ever achieved. Yet, despite Somalilanders' strong identification with their fledgling state, and Somaliland's huge economic potential, the "international community" refuses to recognise its existence, adamantly upholding the sovereignty of a now-defunct Somalia. Due to lack of international recognition, Somaliland has been unable to obtain foreign aid needed for its infrastructural development. Yet the Somalilanders' optimism for statehood lives on.