Background

Established in April 2017 in Baidoa, Bay Region, the Somali Welfare Entrepreneurship and Skills Center (SWESC) is a national, Somali-founded non-governmental organization dedicated to advancing entrepreneurship and skills development among the most vulnerable communities of South-Central Somalia. Since its founding, SWESC has worked to expand access to education, business development, and employment opportunities, while promoting human rights, peace, and good governance as pathways to sustainable community development. SWESC is legally registered with the Ministries of Planning and Investment, Education and Higher Culture, and Labour and Social Affairs in the Federal Government, Southwest and Hirshabelle Federal Member States. The organization is an active member of six humanitarian and development clusters — WASH, Protection, Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL), Health, Nutrition, and Education — and currently serves as Co-Chair of the Southwest TVET Technical Working Group. SWESC was founded by a group of Somali professionals who, following extensive consultations within Somalia and abroad, recognized the urgent need to support communities recovering from decades of conflict and crisis through skills development and entrepreneurship. Prolonged instability has weakened Somalia’s socio-economic and political institutions, leaving many communities acutely vulnerable. In SWESC’s areas of operation, chronic poverty and underdevelopment persist: most households depend on subsistence-based small businesses, pastoralism, agropastoralism, and agriculture, with few opportunities for wage employment. Years of conflict, drought, and famine have eroded traditional livelihoods and coping mechanisms, driving large-scale displacement and the growth of IDP settlements and refugee populations in neighboring regions. SWESC’s programming reaches both rural communities and urban populations, including internally displaced persons (IDPs). To address these challenges, SWESC applies a holistic, community-centered, and sustainability-driven approach. Guided by a sustainable livelihoods framework, the organization aligns its strategic and short-term interventions with Somalia’s humanitarian and development priorities, favoring locally driven solutions that are consistent with both national and international development strategies. SWESC’s work is grounded in participatory planning, strategic engagement with communities, and close coordination with local authorities. SWESC’s programming spans a wide range of thematic areas, including emergency response, food security and livelihoods, entrepreneurship and vocational training, non-formal education, youth development, micro-enterprise support, peace build]ing and reconciliation, and gender-focused initiatives addressing FGM, gender-based violence (GBV), and HIV/AIDS. Since its inception, SWESC has designed and delivered a broad portfolio of emergency and development projects in partnership with local communities, United Nations agencies, and international organizations. These interventions have delivered measurable benefits to vulnerable populations across South-Central Somalia and have established SWESC’s credibility as a capable and trusted implementing partner. Today, SWESC has grown into a well-established national NGO with the institutional capacity to manage multiple concurrent projects, backed by strong support from local authorities, communities, and donors.