By Mohamed Abdirizak Ahmed - Somali lawyer and researcher based in Mogadishu. He is the founder and managing director of Hiiliye Legal Services and a member of the U.S. Embassy Youth Council.
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“Young people should not only be seen as beneficiaries, but as partners who can build, lead, solve problems and shape Somalia.” Mohamed Abdirizak Ahmed
At one of our final Youth Council meetings at the U.S. Embassy, Justin Davis leaned forward across the table and asked me what I thought young Somalis needed most from their country’s relationship with the United States. It was a small moment, but it captured something I came to value about our conversations: he asked questions, and he listened.
On September 9, I attended the farewell reception marking the end of Justin E. Davis’s time leading the U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu. It was also an occasion to welcome his successor, Ruth Anne Stevens-Klitz.
Standing there that evening, I found myself thinking less about the reception itself and more about the discussions that had taken place before it.
Over the past months, I had several opportunities to meet Justin through the U.S. Embassy Youth Council. Some meetings were structured; others felt much more like open conversations. We spoke about young people, opportunity, peace and security, Somalia’s political future, the relationship between Somalia and the United States, and sometimes about our own professional journeys.
Looking back at those meetings, what stood out to me was not any single answer, but the fact that the questions were asked at all. For young people, that distinction matters.
Young Somalis are often spoken about at conferences, in reports, development programs and political discussions. We are regularly described as the majority of the population, the future of the country, or a generation facing enormous challenges. There is a difference, however, between speaking about young people and sitting across the table from them to ask what they actually think.
That was one of the things I valued most about our conversations.
In one of our discussions, we were asked what people outside Somalia should understand about Somali youth when much of what they hear about the country is connected to conflict, insecurity and humanitarian need.
I remember saying that Somali youth should not always be seen through the language of aid and need. Many of us are looking for something different: opportunity, partnership and investment.
I think, for instance, of young Somalis I know who are building small logistics ventures that track deliveries by phone or developing agri-tech pilots that work with farmers outside the capital. Across Somalia, young people are starting businesses, studying, conducting research, working with technology, creating media, serving their communities and trying to solve problems around them. The talent exists, and so does the ambition. What is often missing is access to finance, mentorship, professional networks, markets and institutions that can help good ideas move forward.
That exchange stayed with me because it made me think more seriously about what meaningful support for young people should look like. Young people should not only be seen as beneficiaries of development. They should also be treated as partners who can build businesses, lead institutions, solve problems and contribute to the future of their own country.
Programs and grants eventually come to an end, but the right mentor, professional network, market opportunity or open door can have an impact that lasts much longer.
Our conversations also went beyond economic opportunity. We discussed peace and security, political participation, Somalia’s political future and the role young people should play in shaping it. Those discussions also raised questions about responsibility: what should political leaders and institutions do differently, and what responsibility do young people themselves carry?
I found that question useful. It is easy for my generation to talk about what government, international partners or older generations should do differently, and many of those concerns are valid. But we also need to ask ourselves what we are doing with the opportunities and responsibilities already in front of us.
One of those lessons became personal for me during one of our final Youth Council meetings. A fellow Council member mentioned that I had recently passed Somalia’s Bar Examination. Justin congratulated me and asked about the experience. I told him it had been difficult, and the discussion briefly turned to how demanding professional examinations can be elsewhere as well.
At one point, I joked that if the Embassy ever needed legal support, my law firm was available. We laughed, but the exchange left me thinking about something more serious: opportunities do not always come looking for us. Sometimes we have to step forward, explain what we can contribute and be willing to put ourselves forward.
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It was a light moment, but the lesson stayed with me.
Valuing those conversations did not mean that we always agreed, nor should meaningful engagement require agreement. Countries have their own interests, policies can be questioned, and partners can disagree. What mattered to me was that there was room to speak honestly, listen seriously and continue talking even when views differed.
That is also what meaningful youth participation should look like. It should be more than invitations and photographs, or a box to tick after important decisions have already been made. Young people should have a real opportunity to contribute ideas, ask difficult questions and be part of the conversation before decisions are finalized.
At our final Youth Council meeting with Justin, we presented him with a traditional Somali go’ and koofiyad. We took photographs together and shared what would become our final conversation with him in that setting.
For me, the gesture represented more than a farewell gift. Diplomats come to Somalia carrying the responsibility of representing their countries, and eventually their assignments come to an end. What often remains after they leave are the relationships they built, the conversations they had and the impressions they left with the people they met.
That experience also changed how I think about diplomacy.
Diplomacy is often understood through official statements, negotiations between governments and meetings behind closed doors. Those things matter. But diplomacy also happens at a more human level. Sometimes it is simply a conversation across a table where someone asks a young person what he thinks and is genuinely interested in hearing the answer.
As Ruth Anne Stevens-Klitz begins her time in Mogadishu, I hope that kind of engagement with Somali youth continues and grows. Every diplomat brings a different style and set of priorities, and that is natural. What I hope continues is the willingness to create space where young people can speak honestly, contribute ideas and be treated as serious partners in the conversation.
Somalia’s young people should be part of discussions about peace, democracy, business, justice, technology and the country’s relationship with the wider world. Not simply because youth participation is expected, but because the choices Somalia makes today will shape the lives of this generation for decades to come.
I am grateful for the opportunities I had to sit across the table from Justin Davis and take part in some of those conversations.
When I think about his time with our Youth Council, I will remember many things. Perhaps what I will remember most is something very simple: he made room for young people to speak, and when we did, he listened.
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Mohamed Abdirizak Ahmed is a Somali lawyer and researcher based in Mogadishu. He is the founder and managing director of Hiiliye Legal Services and a member of the U.S. Embassy Youth Council.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Dawan Africa.