Somali-Jewish Mentorship Project

May 2, 2009

The Canadian Somali Congress and the Canadian International Peace Project recently invited mentees from the Somali community in Toronto to be part of an informational session on an important mentorship project between the Somali and Jewish communities.  Canadian Somali university and college students as well as young professionals attended this event in order to learn about this project.  Those that were interested filled application forms in order to join this initiative and will be matched with mentors from the Canadian Jewish community who will assist them in successfully pursuing their respective professions. 

The National President of Canadian Somali Congress, Ahmed Hussen, and Mark Persaud who is the honourary patron of the organization both spoke about the importance of providing mentoring to the Somali community.  Ahmed Hussen spoke at length about the fact that even though the Canadian Somali community is the largest African Diaspora community and one of the largest Muslim communities in Canada, it lacks a critical mass of professionals that can mentor Somali university, college and young professionals.  This necessitated the need to reach out to other communities in order to fulfill this need.  Mark Persaud then spoke about the goal of the Jewish-Somali mentorship project being to aid in the creation of a successful cadre of Canadian-Somali professionals, who can then assume greater leadership roles to assist with the development of their own community as well as contribute to Canadian society at large. 

The lawyer for the Canadian Somali Congress, Mr. James Morton, spoke at length to the assembled members of the community and provided two examples of mentors that had a positive impact on his life.  He indicated that mentors do not just bring along a mentee into their profession but can also intervene at critical times to protect and guide a mentee in difficult times.

Mr. Saeed Mohamud, who is a community member and volunteer for the Canadian Somali Congress, was the last speaker of the evening.  Saeed spoke about the importance of having a national advocacy organization for the Canadian Somali community.  He cited examples of the work carried out by the organization both on its own and in conjunction with other organizations.  These examples include work on the Bashir Makhtal case, the Anab Issa Ilgiir case, working with the Edmonton Somali community on advocacy issues related to youth violence, media outreach to highlight the problem of illegal fishing and the dumping of toxic waste off the Somali coast, and hosting a legal and business conference.  Saeed expressed the organization's willingness to work with any community or mainstream organization in order to address the challenges facing the Somali community in Canada.

The session ended with a question and answer session and a meet and greet between the Canadian Somali university and college students as well as young professionals.  The Canadian Somali Congress in partnership with the Canadian International Peace Project will extend this project to other Canadian cities that have a substantial Somali population.

Canadian Somali Congress President Published in the Ottawa Citizen

November 29th, 2008

Foreign navies are not likely to be able to completely eradicate pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia -- such as the audacious capture of a Saudi supertanker -- making it even more important for the world to stabilize a country that has experienced 17 years of

Click here to read rest of the article


CANADIAN SOMALI CONGRESS AND CANADIAN SOMALI LEADERS MEET WITH PRIME MINISTER ON PARLIAMENT HILL

December 6th, 2007

The Canadian Somali Congress, the national advocacy organization for the Canadian Somali community, along with community leaders from the Canadian Somali community, held the first ever Canadian-Somali national lobby day on Wednesday, December 5th, 2007 on Parliament Hill. The delegation, was led by the National President of the Canadian Somali Congress, Mr. Ahmed Hussen, and included community representatives from Ottawa and Toronto as well as the Legal Counsel to the Canadian Somali Congress, Mr. James Morton, and Honourary Patrons of the Canadian Somali Congress, Professor Ed Morgan and Mark Persaud

National President Ahmed Hussen with the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada

"This was an extremely important and historic day for Canadians of Somali heritage" stated National President Ahmed Hussen. "It marks the first ever organized national lobby day on issues of importance to the Canadian-Somali community and we were able to discuss a number of matters with Cabinet Ministers, Members of Parliament and senior government officials.  We were especially thrilled to spend some time with the Prime Minister of Canada and very pleased with the attention, interest and respect that we were accorded by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister was well informed on the situation in Somalia and he discussed those developments with the delegation." Mr. Hussen further stated that Minister Jason Kenney has earned the admiration and respect of the Canadian Somali community for his tireless efforts on behalf of the community. 

Among the issues discussed,  were more support for the further integration of Canadian Somalis, immigration and consular matters, humanitarian aid to Somalia and the appointment of a Canadian Special Envoy to Somalia. Meetings were held with The Honourable Bev Oda, Minister of International Cooperation and Minister responsible for the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); Minister Jason Kenney, Secretary of State for Multiculturalism; Kevin Sorenson, Member of Parliament and Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs; and senior officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The lobby day was followed by a reception for the delegation hosted by the Canadian Jewish Congress in Ottawa.

For further information, contact:

Ebyan Farah
Director of Communications
Canadian Somali Congress

Tel:        (613) 608-5542
e-mail:   ebyanf@gmail.com

Canadian Somali Congress offers a different perspective on piracy off the Somali Coast

Canadian Somali Congress National President Ahmed Hussen speaks with BNN about piracy off the coast of Somalia