Abdirahman Osman Raghe, our friend, colleague and mentor, passed away in the early hours of 7 March, 2017, at Toronto, Canada.
Abdirahman Osman Raghe, our friend, colleague and mentor, passed away in the early hours of 7 March, 2017, at Toronto, Canada.
Raghe was a tireless warrior in the cause of peace, an inspirational figure who never wavered in his faith in the dignity of the Somali people or his optimism in the restoration of harmony and prosperity to his nation.
Born into the nomadic tradition and raised as the son of a soldier, Raghe completed his formal education and joined the Somali civil service in 1971, rising to the rank of Director General – a post from which he resigned in 1989 following the outbreak of the Somali civil war. In 1990, he was appointed Deputy Chief of the United Nations Emergency Unit for Somalia, coordinating relief assistance to war-affected parts of the country.
In the early 1990s, Raghe was appointed Deputy Director of the War-Torn Societies Project, later known as WSP-International and Interpeace. It was a role in which he mentored a younger generation of Somali researchers, analysts and peacebuilders, co-founding three leading Somali institutes: the Puntland Development Research Centre (Garowe), the Academy for Peace and Development (Hargeysa), and the Centre for Research and Dialogue (Mogadishu).
In 2012, Raghe became a founding director of Sahan Research, a policy-oriented think tank dedicated to the promotion of peace and security, primarily in the Horn of Africa. His dedication to the cause of peace was unflinching, and while he insisted upon the highest standards of commitment and professionalism from his colleagues and associates, he demanded even greater exertions of himself. He never hesitated to place himself – either literally or figuratively — in the line of fire, to confront combatants with the terrible consequences of their violence, or to build bridges of trust and understanding between former adversaries. His passing renews our determination to continue his work and uphold his legacy.
Raghe is survived by his wife, Zahra Mahadalleh, and his nine children: Khayre, Mustafe, Nawal, Saida, Iman, Asma, Husna, Ayan and Mahad.
Our thoughts and prayers are with them. The Sahan Family
