Somalia, a country composed of four and a half major tribes, namely the Hawiye,<br />centred in Mogadishu, the Darod based in the North, the Dir and the Rahanweyn (the<br />other 40-odd minor tribes falling into the “half” category) blundered into the 21st<br />century without a modern state or its institutions (Mbugua, 2004:26). While the<br />country has been without an effective government since 1991, recent reports suggest<br />that, unless immediate action is taken on an international scale, Somalia will continue<br />on its downward trend towards internal collapse. Although much hope was pinned on<br />the success of the Somali National Reconciliation Conference, which played host to<br />more than 1 325 delegates from a selection of Somalia’s various regions and clans to<br />talk about and propose solutions to Somalia’s protracted problems, the conference<br />was concluded on 30 August 2007 showing little for participants’ efforts. This<br />initiative came after a spate of fighting in Somalia that has not only been labelled the<br />“worst violence in Somalia’s 16 years of war and turmoil”, but also, “the worst single<br />displacement of people this year anywhere in the world” (Nordland, 2007:60).