Presented to the International Conference on Languages and Education in Africa in 2006, Doreen Woodford's paper gives an account of the history of deaf education in Somaliland with a focus on the development of Somali Sign Language.

The establishment of schools for deaf children in Wajir in Kenya as well as in Boroma and Hargeisa in Somaliland and in Djibouti contributed significantly to the development of the language. However significant challenges were posed by the mobile population, the difficulty of involving parents, the use of several official written languages and the lack of knowledgeable af-Somali-speaking personnel.

Link through to the full version of the paper on the EENET website at http://www.eenet.org.uk/deaf/somali_sign_language.shtml