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Paper short abstract:

How do Somali humanitarian actors (Mosques and clan associations) in Kenya organize humanitarian support? Findings show mosques tend to focus on aid during spectacular events targeting larger population groups while kinship-based support restrict aid to their own clan groups or places of origin.

Paper long abstract:

This article focuses on the neglected role of the Somali near diaspora in mobilizing and delivering humanitarian support to Somalia. The focus is on the diaspora in Kenya. I argue, that the debate on aid has concentrated on international aid organizations and thereby neglected the complexity of humanitarian support. Focusing on mosques and kinship associations in Nairobi, the study asks how Somali humanitarian actors in Kenya organize humanitarian support. To answer this question, I have analyzed seven Islamic online lectures and conducted 51 in-depth interviews and three focus group discussions in Eastleigh (Kenya) and Mogadishu (Somalia) to capture both donors and recipients of diaspora aid. The findings show that both mosques and clan associations are responding to humanitarian crisis in Somalia, but do so differently and also address different social groups. Mosques tend to focus on humanitarian aid during spectacular events, usually environmental and man-made disasters that affect larger population groups. Kinship associations tend to restrict their aid to their own clan groups or at least locations where their clan dominates in Somalia. The study further found that mistrust between providers of humanitarian support and the advancement of individual and sectarian interests is undermining the effectiveness of humanitarian aid.

Key words: Diaspora, Humanitarianism, Islamic aid, Clan-based aid, Eastleigh, Somalia.