A community-based approach to prevent social exclusion of Somali youth in Finland

Abstract

The current study is a brief evaluation of a community-based project called “Gurmad – Save the Youth”. The word “Gurmad” comes from the Somali language and it means saving someone. The project was implemented in 2017–2018 in Espoo, Finland. The main aim of the project was to prevent social exclusion and radicalization among immigrant young adults living in the area. Another aim was to create a community-based approach to help solve their social problems. In this study, the Trident approach is utilized to structure the available results of an internal, participatory evaluation. Confirmed strengths of the project could serve as a rationale for the continuation of the programme.