Garowe, 16 August 2025 – The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires its signatories to ensure that persons with disabilities are not excluded from the general education system on the basis of disability.
For education activist Zakaria Said Yusuf such conventions are welcome in a country like Somalia, which has been rebuilding after decades of civil war and strife. However, implementation can take time.
“In principle it is a good thing, but given what we have experienced here, it can take a long time to be felt so we cannot wait,” says Mr. Yusuf.
The 52-year-old resident of Garowe, the capital of Somalia’s northern Federal Member State of Puntland, knows first-hand what it is like to be a child growing up with hearing loss and no access to special education. It is what compelled him to take action.
In 2016, he led efforts to set up the Federal Member State’s first specialist institution for students with hearing impairments: the Puntland Deaf Care and Development Agency (PDCDA), which also contains the Federal Member State’s only formal primary school dedicated exclusively to supporting these students.
“It wasn’t easy – I sought support from various stakeholders, including the Puntland government,” Mr. Yusuf recalls. “With their backing, the Agency was established, and I was appointed school director in 2018.”
When Mr. Yusuf says it was not easy, he refers to the establishment of the PDCDA – but he could also be referring to his own experience growing up as a person with a hearing impairment in Somalia amidst violent conflict and humanitarian crises.
Beginnings
Mr. Yusuf was born in 1973 in the country’s capital, Mogadishu, to a family of seven. His life changed dramatically just three years later, after sustaining a head injury that affected his hearing.
“This changed my life forever. A few years after the accident, doctors confirmed I had permanent hearing loss. I was just a child, but my parents told me they did everything they could to help me regain my hearing,” he says. “Sadly, it never happened.”
Throughout his youth and early adulthood, he struggled to access basic services and opportunities. Formal systems and structures to meet the needs of persons with disabilities – including educational needs – were not .in place, and they were often left to the care of their families and clans.
When Somalia’s civil war erupted in his early twenties, Mr. Yusuf’s family sought safety in the relatively secure area of Puntland.
The move led to changes for him beyond immediate refuge from the fighting in the country’s south.
While social services and facilities for persons with hearing impairments were not necessarily better in Puntland, the relative peace there allowed him to develop with the love and support of his father.
Mr. Yusuf’s father was determined that his son receive an education, despite repeated rejections due to what was often described as a “lack of appropriate facilities.”
“I was very young when I lost my hearing. My father tried to enrol me in several primary schools in Mogadishu but, due to my hearing difficulties, all of them rejected my application,” he says.
“When my father saw these challenges, he decided to give me special care and support, different from what my sisters received, because I needed it.”
“But my father didn’t give up – he hired a private teacher who taught me literacy and basic numeracy skills. My older sisters also offered encouragement and helped me with my learning,” he adds. “It is a privilege to have such a supportive family. Their support motivated me to continue improving my education. I’m sure that, without their support, I would have remained uneducated and unmotivated. But now, I am educated and sharing my knowledge with disabled students in my country.”
Once he started, the youngster was determined to continue.
“I completed several online sign language courses, but the most transformative was a six-month programme in Addis Ababa in 2006,” Mr. Yusuf says. “There, I earned certification in American Sign Language from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID).”
Based in the United States, the RID is a non-profit organization that sets standards for American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters and also serves as a certifying body of sign language interpreters. RID certification is highly prized among ASL interpreters, and is a qualification that has been put to use in Mr. Yusuf’s role as an interpreter at both the PDCDA and in the local community.
Starting school
Following his schooling, Mr. Yusuf was keen to help others who were facing similar challenges. He actively engaged in grassroots advocacy around Puntland to help young persons with hearing impairments access formal education.
He began raising awareness in local communities about the widespread lack of educational access for persons with disabilities. His efforts included community mobilization, outreach activities and lobbying local authorities to recognize and address the barriers faced by persons with hearing impairments and other persons with disabilities.
Seven years ago, things changed. There was a breakthrough.
“At last, our efforts paid off and I was able to secure a place to start classes for deaf students,” Mr. Yusuf says, a note of pride in his voice.
This initial governmental support was centred on providing for a location and basic classroom equipment. It helped, but there were more obstacles – including enrolment – which only made him more determined.
“Convincing families to enrol their children proved difficult,” Mr. Yusuf says. “We faced profound challenges: limited community awareness about education for deaf persons.”
According to the Somalia National Development Plan 2020-2024, persons with disabilities are the most vulnerable in Somalia and are among the disadvantaged groups that lack any form of social and labour protection. To complicate matters, in some quarters of Somali society there are “lingering societal misconceptions about educating disabled children.”
Mr. Yusuf has experienced this aspect of society’s indifference firsthand. He knows he was lucky to have a father who cared enough about his education but is also aware that there is still widespread ignorance about the potential of children with disabilities.
“There is a common belief that children with disabilities – particularly those with hearing challenges – cannot excel academically because of their challenges. As a result, a significant number of children with disabilities remain at home without access to education,” he says.
With time and persistence, the advocacy led by Mr. Yusuf and his collaborators paid off with the Puntland authorities providing more support for the organization. In 2019, operating from two rented rooms in Garowe, the PDCDA’s school wing formally opened its doors and welcomed its first 26 students.
The modest beginnings were no indication of what was to come. Student numbers grew steadily – now hovering at around 50 – and, with support from the Puntland Ministry of Education, the school expanded to three purpose-built classrooms at a new site on the outskirts of the city. It also acquired two buses to transport the students. The institution now employs 11 staff, including three teachers, an interpreter, and two drivers.
Challenges
An ongoing challenge for the PDCDA is securing funds.
Just four years ago there were nearly 100 students enrolled at the PDCDA, but now that number has almost halved. The school’s monthly tuition is $10, but poverty renders even this nominal amount prohibitive. More than a dozen youth attend free of charge too, with Mr. Yusuf and his team trying to accommodate students with limited means.
“Currently, we teach 52 students from across Puntland, including 37 girls,” Mr. Yusuf. “Low enrolment stems from financial hardship, because many cannot afford even these minimal fees. As Puntland’s only such institution, we urgently need support to survive.”
“Our isolated location necessitates special transport arrangements,” he adds as an example. “However, securing consistent fuel funding remains an ongoing struggle.”
Currently, the PDCDA offers classes up to grade four, and plans to expand the range of classes on offer up until grade 12, the completion of secondary school. It is the only formal primary school in Puntland dedicated exclusively to supporting students with hearing impairments.
Mr. Yusuf’s constant worry is that his students discontinue their schooling, whether due to financial difficulties or societal traditions.
“I know the pain and struggle this can cause for a family. During these times, many Somali families face economic hardships that prevent them from sending their children to school. In addition, there is often a lack of prioritisation when it comes to supporting children with disabilities. As a result, many children – particularly those I work with – remain uneducated and live in poverty,” he says.
UN and disability rights
According to the National Disability Report 2024, produced by Somalia’s National Bureau of Statistics, around 3.5 per cent of the Somali population are persons with hearing impairments. When disaggregated by sex, 4.1 per cent of women and 2.7 per cent of men report having hearing difficulties. Overall, hearing impairments constitute a significant portion of the total disability prevalence in the country.
In the area of protection of the rights of persons with disabilities, Somalia has achieved significant milestones in recent years. These include the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, establishing the National Disability Agency and the enactment of the Disability Rights Protection Law.
The latter is a landmark achievement towards safeguarding the dignity and inclusion of persons with disabilities. The legislation guarantees education while mandating institutional accountability, and its provisions require schools to implement inclusive education and emergency protections for persons with disabilities.
“The recent advances that Somalia has made in terms of legislation and other protections for the rights of persons with disabilities are commendable, and are as important as the efforts on the ground of people like Mr. Yusuf, who serve their communities day in, day out,” says the Chief of UNTMIS’ Human Rights and Protection Group, Kirsten Young, who is also the Representative to Somalia of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
“We also encourage the official recognition and approval of the draft Somali Sign Language developed by organisations of persons with hearing impairments” she adds.
