By Ali Musa Abdi

Hargeisa, Somalia - Young people in Somaliland are so wild about the Internet and cyber-dating that local associations and the United Nations children's agency are out to ensure education and ease tensions.

Streets in Hargeisa, the capital of a breakaway part of Somalia that is far more peaceful than most of the lawless country, empty of teenagers in late afternoons as they wait their turn in Internet cafes to send a flurry of instant messages to distant paramours.

Since they have much increased access to the Web, Somaliland's teenage girls are frequently lured into marriage abroad hoping to enjoy the economic benefits of natives living elsewhere, primarily in Britain, according to civic associations.

"Why don't the girls look at us rather than instant messaging Somalilanders far away?" local teenager Amin Sheikh Mukhtar wondered. "Because we can't afford a lavish wedding ceremony or cars."

Many girls rely on such chat in hopes of netting prospective Somaliland men living elsewhere and as a widespread social response, they are encouraged into marrying at an increasingly early age to stem the flow into the diaspora.

The practice seriously disrupts the education of girls, they themselves said. In turn, this worries officials in and the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), which has begun to address the problem to encourage education.

"If you are married, you can't go to school while you're pregnant," Leyla Abdullahi told AFP. "It's unrealistic to have children and learn at the same time."

"If girls wait until they go to university to get married, then they will be too old to mother children," argued Abdullahi Hassan, shrugging off what he called a "Western concept".

Until recent years, it was formerly forbidden to discuss marriage among men and women in this rigid Muslim country of about 3.5 million people as a matter for public debate but the cyber-cafes are one sign of changing social values.

An official working for the Somaliland Cultural and Sport Association (SOCSA) official said the need for awareness about the consequences of early marriage was more important than outdated notions of marriage and education.

"The idea is to create awareness in the young community to understand to what unplanned marriage does to the education of young girls," said Khadra Khalil of SOCSA.

At a seminar on the issue, Hassan nodded in appreciation.

"I need to go to school, earn a degree from the university and get a job. Then I'll be able to discuss marriage," the outspoken 18-year-old man said, but not all the girls participating were as open to discussing marriage, especially in mixed company.

SOCSA officers pushed on, citing high rates of divorce and lack of education among girls who are married at an early age.

Source: AFP, Oct. 12, 2005