MAANDEEQ COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT (MCE)

Maandeeq Community Engagement (MCE) supports and promotes better integration, and build effective cohesion with the Somali community, of all ages, living in Birmingham and surrounding areas by endorsing communication and understanding of our diverse cultural heritages and enhance social harmony.

There are a lack of services for the large Somali community residing in the West Midlands, widening the gap between the locals and major key players like the NHS, West Midlands Police, Mental Health services, and the City Council. MCE works to buffer these breaches and build a cohesive community. Since starting this organisation we realised that our client base hail from different countries and speak different languages, so we have revamped our campaign to cater for our esteemed clients.

MCE is the focal point (go-to) source of information and guidance across a broad range of community issues, and a platform to celebrate national culture and history in keeping our identity as Somali.

There are many social issues affecting family life within the Somali community i.e, drug abuse, domestic violence, cultural restrictions, FGM, forced marriages and prison population to name a few and the MSCE will work to raise public awareness about such issues through literature, media and workshops, as well as promoting law abidance and incidence reporting within the community.

The problems faced by young Somali Communities today is complex (drugs, crime, anti-social behaviour, radicalisation), and MCE recognises the importance of working closely with local government and law enforcement organisations, and aims to raise awareness of the issues with relevant authorities and mobilise resources to tackle the problems.

Life is stressful without barriers of language and other obstacles thrown into the mix. MCE plans to work through these issues, ensuring the challenges are tackled professionally and participation across the board is achieved through activities.