Hargabits Digital Academy Graduates 74 Youth from Drought-Affected Districts in Somaliland

74 Young Somalilanders Step Into the Digital Workforce

On April 16, 2026, Hargeisa hosted one of the most meaningful graduation ceremonies of the year. Shaqodoon Organization, working alongside the Somali Resilience Program (SomReP) and the Somaliland Ministry of Youth and Sports, recognized 74 graduates of the Hargabits Digital Academy, each one having completed a full year of intensive digital skills training.

This was not a routine ceremony. Every graduate in the room represented a deliberate choice to invest in the regions hit hardest by the climate crisis, and a deliberate bet on what young people from those regions can do when given the right tools.

Reaching the Districts That Need It Most

The 74 graduates were selected from drought-affected districts across Somaliland, including:

• Burao

• El Afweyn

• Salaxley

• Baligubadle

• Arabsiyo

• Lughaya

Many came from surrounding villages where livelihoods have been disrupted by repeated drought cycles, and where opportunities for young people to enter the modern workforce have historically been limited. The Hargabits Digital Academy was designed to close that gap directly, bringing structured, year-long digital training to learners who would otherwise have been outside the reach of conventional skills programmes.

A Year of Training, Then a Real Pathway Out

Completing the curriculum was only part of the model. To make sure graduates could move from training into real economic activity, each of them left the programme with three things:

Professional Certificates that signal recognized, employer-ready skills.

Modern Laptops so that the work they trained for is never blocked by lack of equipment.

Internship Opportunities that translate classroom learning into income, helping graduates support families affected by drought while they build their careers.

This combination is intentional. A certificate alone does not feed a household. A laptop without skills does not change a trajectory. The Hargabits model brings the three elements together so that the day after graduation looks different from the day before.

Part of a Larger Investment in Somali Youth

The Hargabits Digital Academy is delivered under the SIDA III project, funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The project reflects a broader commitment to invest in youth skill development across the Horn of Africa and to create sustainable employment pathways in regions where climate shocks have made traditional livelihoods increasingly fragile.

Shaqodoon's role in the partnership has been to design and deliver the training, identify learners across remote districts, and connect graduates to internship hosts. SomReP brings the resilience programming infrastructure and field presence. The Somaliland Ministry of Youth and Sports brings the policy backing and recognition that makes the certificates meaningful in the local labour market.

What Comes Next

For the 74 graduates, the next stage is internship placement and entry into the digital economy. For Shaqodoon and its partners, the next stage is scale. The lessons from this cohort will inform how future Hargabits intakes are recruited, trained, and placed, with the goal of widening the pipeline of digitally skilled youth from drought-affected communities into stable, modern work.

When climate shocks shrink the options available to young people in rural Somaliland, programmes like Hargabits exist to expand them again.