Somaliland:SONYO Announces Abdihamid M. Omer as new Executive Director

By:Mo Duale

HornDiplomat-Somaliland National Youth Organisation (Sonyo) Announces Abdihamid M. Omer as new Executive Director.

The following statement was issued today by the SONYO Umbrella 

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Abdihamid M. Omer as our new Executive Director from December 2019.

Abdihamid comes to this job with an extensive professional and personal background advancing policies and practices that affect Somaliland Youth.

The decision follows a search period during which the board considered a number of highly qualified candidates. Ultimately, we were very impressed by Abdihamid’s skills, experience, vision for our future, and his extensive knowledge of our field. He is the ideal person to take over from former Executive Director, Omar Migane, and we are all very excited to see his step into this crucial leadership role.

A search committee consisting of SONYO Board member and Ministry of Employment, Social Affairs and Family, began by interviewing top candidates, using the results to build a candidate profile. They spent the months that followed screening viable candidates (over 150), the short list of which were reviewed and vetted with the Board members. This resulted in inviting five strong candidates for written exam on November. 14th in Hargeisa. The committee also conducted 60-minute in-depth formal interviews with each candidate, leveraging a set of pre-determined structured questions to ensure consistency, and a balanced focus on staff, strategy, and analytics. At the end, the committee was unanimous in its decision, and felt that the overall process was comprehensive and complete.

Many thanks to the search committee for two very long fascinating days of diligent work, all while keeping good spirit and having fun. I would like to thank the SONYO Board members for their support and collaboration during the search process.

I would also like to thank Ministry of Employment, Social Affairs and Family for their professional and productive search as well as their guidance throughout the entire process.

Last but not least, I would like to extend a very special thank to Omer Migane, who has done an outstanding job shaping SONYO for the past three years for what it is today. Moreover, Migane went above and beyond by enhancing the productivity and collaborative spirit in the whole SONYO Umbrella. We are all grateful for his contribution.

As SONYO moves into its next chapter, we have many exciting times ahead. I would ask for your continued support and enthusiasm as Abdihamids transitions into her new role. His first day will be December 1st. Please join me in officially welcoming Abdihamid to SONYO.

Abdulaziz Saed Salah
Chairman, SONYO Umbrella