Asha Noor, S-CAR MS Student

On April 14, 2015, Asha Noor was invited on the Kojo Nnamdi Show, to talk about the recent terrorist attacks by Al-Shabab, and the challenges facing Somali-Americans. "I agreed to be on the show because many individuals thought I could better represent the concerns and views of the Somali diaspora as this issue is something I have been working on for several years." Asha has been involved in the Somali diaspora in North America and some of the organizations that she has been a part of are the Somali Diaspora Youth, ADAR Foundation, IRUSA, and Global Somali Diaspora. "What continues to drive my involvement with these groups, are our collaborative efforts to see a better future for Somalia."

Asha is a master's student at S-CAR and her research focus has been on the challenges of social reconciliation projects relating to mining disputes and resources in Somalia. In the summer of 2014, while she was in Somaliland to conduct field research, she discovered that some of the mining disputes were related to terrorism. "I found out that some of the coal depletion in the communities, were as a result of terrorist networks taking advantage of this resource as a funding source." To try to address this issue, Asha worked with the Academy for Peace and Development to look to provide official contracts for mining purposes in order to track how much of this resource, terrorists groups were actually exploiting.

After graduating, Asha would like to continue her work with local diaspora organizations and pursue a doctoral degree. " I will like to become a scholar on Somali affairs  where I would  utilize all the skills, expertise and knowledge that I acquire to help Somalia rebuild from years od conflict."

### Photo: From left to right: Imam/Professor Johari, Asha Noor and Kojo Nnamdi. Photo: Asha Noor.