Sharmarke Peace Foundation (SPF) is a non-profit, non-political and non-partisan organization founded after a renowned journalist, Ali Iman Sharmarke, who was killed in Mogadishu, Somalia on 11th August 2007.

Mr. Sharmarke was a winner of Canadian Award for Free Expression and a founder and co-owner of HornAfrik Media Company. He was a long time friend of the ‘Voice of America’ and BBC, and a courageous journalist committed to establishing a free press in his native Somalia. He held a dual Canadian-Somali citizenship. He sacrificed a comfortable life in Canada to return to his homeland in 1999, where he established the country’s first independent radio station, HornAfrik, in Mogadishu.

The station’s broadcasts often focused on the plight of civilians caught in conflict between the government and the opposition.

In the documentary film, "A World of Difference" Sharmarke is quoted saying: "We see the media as a means to do a social change, and probably I can say now Horn Afrik is one of the best instruments for social change in Somalia,” It is a legacy that he will be long remembered for.

His widow, Luul Sharmarke, who is the executive director of SPF, would like to carry on her husband’s vision which was to have a free, professional and responsible press in Somalia, engage the youth in self sustaining projects and the need to bring the community together on important issues, like education, health, strengthening community organizations and rural development to enable them become useful members of the society.

Since the collapse of the Somali government in the early 1990′s, Somali children and youth have known hardships for most of their lives. Many are out of school, have suffered displacement and sometimes participated in violence. The education system collapsed. A few formal and informal schools exist but these require external funding to carry on the education process.

Likewise, journalists in Somalia are faced with hardships while carrying out their work. Mr. Sharmarke’s death and of Mahad Ahmed Elmi, director of HornAfrik’s Capitol Voice FM station, brought to eight the number media workers murdered in Somalia in the year 2007. Further, five journalists were injured and 42 jailed in 2007. A number of journalists fled Somalia and are camping in Nairobi. They are in dire need of food and shelter. SPF endeavors to support these journalists by assisting to get training and equipment so that they may get back to Somalia and continue with their work.