Abdirahman Mohamed Dirye

Hanna, not her real name, born in 1992 in New Hargaysa the Somaliland capital celebrated her 20th birthday last 18 May, the Independence Day. Twenty years after independence, little has changed in her life.

Twenty years after unilateral declaration, Somalia continues to eclipse Somaliland and globetrotters see a journey to Somaliland as a risky business. The assumption that Somaliland is like Somalia, where the gun rules, has not an iota of truth to it.