With the collapse of central government of Somalia and subsequent start of the civil war, the political and administrative structures disappeared in Somalia where anarchy and rules of warlords prevailed. The basic social services also did not exist for the past three years for which the Somali society suffered heavily. Based on these real needs of the society, a group of Somali intellectuals and d
evelopment practitioners both from Diaspora and from within Somalia established Somali Welfare Society (SWS) in 1993. It is a member of the umbrella NGO networks in the region and it has five branches in the main regional administrative centers of Puntland with its head office located in Garowe, the capital of Puntland. A Board of Directors (BOD) consisting of 15 members oversees the performance of the organization, while a management team runs its day-to-day affairs. SWS received integrated institutional capacity building training from Care International as well as from other INGOs and UN agencies. SWS was established in 1993 by a group of Somali intellectuals to contribute to the efforts of community development in Somalia and to assure the activities of this organization are being done in accordance to its guiding principles. Thus the major objective of the NGO is to facilitate and help community to have access to all basic social services and help community achieve their own development goals. SWS is a non-political, non-governmental, non-profit, community-centered and action-oriented organization operating in the regions of Puntland State of Somalia. It is established by the community and for the community. It attaches great value on the principle of participation and community ownership.
