Global Health Ethics in Practice Awards: Field Notes from Somaliland

Zaynab Ahmed outside of a health center in Borama, Somaliland. 

The biggest obstacle to international travel and meaningful global health experiences is often cost. 

That’s why the Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility has created the Global Health Ethics in Practice Awards.

The awards, which are made possible by the generosity of donors, offer up to $2,000 to University of Minnesota graduate students, residents and fellows to put towards global health internships, applied experiences, research fieldwork or ethical hands-on practice abroad.

Zaynab Ahmed, a School of Public Health student, used a Global Health Ethics in Practice Award to support neonatal intensive care units in Borama, Somaliland. 

Ahmed is a Maternal and Child Health MPH student who used the experience for SPH’s Applied Practice requirement, bridging her UMN learning in the classroom to building skills in a real-world setting. She will also incorporate her learnings in her future Integrated Learning Experience and master’s thesis. 

Below are reflections from Ahmed about her time in Borama. 

What activities did you pursue on this trip?

I conducted research under the mentorship of Dr. Ellen Diego, Assistant Professor in the Division of Neonatology at the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Department of Pediatrics, to improve the quality of newborn care and reduce neonatal morbidity and mortality through neonatal curriculum implementation in Borama, Somaliland. 

This project was a quality improvement (QI) initiative aimed at standardizing fluid administration, enteral nutrition advancement, and multicomponent fortification for neonates under 28 days of age admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Borama Regional Hospital and Al-Hayatt Hospital. 

I helped design and implement a REDCap survey to collect baseline data on feeding practices, growth outcomes, and clinical care indicators. Alongside data collection, I co-facilitated a two-week educational program with eight resident doctors and 23 nurses, focused on best practices for neonatal feeding and monitoring.

Outside the hospital, I immersed myself in the local culture by using my Somali language skills, meeting with community members, and participating in dinners and discussions with university leaders and health administrators. These experiences deepened both my professional learning and my cultural connection to Somaliland.

What did you learn during your travel experience that will influence how you will work/practice in your community?

I learned how resilient health workers in Somaliland, and in many low-resource countries, must be in order to provide care amidst limited funding, staffing shortages, and shifting political contexts. This gave me a new perspective on resourcefulness and adaptability, which I will carry into my future practice.

I also saw firsthand the value of university partnerships in creating strong, sustainable collaborations that extend beyond a single project. These lessons will shape how I approach community partnerships and program design in my own work.

What "aha" moments have you had as a result of this travel experience?

My biggest “aha” moments for me were realizing how transformative data can be for health outcomes and how limited documentation and data systems present major barriers to progress.

Our project specifically addressed gaps in documentation and trained staff on tracking feeding and growth indicators. Without reliable data, it is difficult to understand community health needs, monitor prevalence, or measure progress. Many hospitals in Somaliland are privately owned and not required to report to national systems, creating additional gaps for nationwide health surveillance.

This reinforced my motivation to strengthen my own skills in data analysis, surveillance, and program evaluation so I can contribute meaningfully to future initiatives in Somaliland.

Global Health Ethics in Practice Awards are made possible by the generosity of donors. Learn how to support global student experiences