31 Aug 2011 – Daily Monitoring Report
Key Headlines:
- Somalia Puntland sign cooperation agreement
- Al Shabaab leader sends an audio message congratulates Somalis on Eid
- Traders rebuild partly collapsed bridge in Lower Jubba
- UNHCR chief visits Horn of Africa
SOMALI MEDIA
The Somali PM visited Galkayo city of Mudug region
30 Aug – Source: Radio Mogadishu, Shabelle, Somalia Report – 74 words
A delegation headed by the Prime Minister of Somalia Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, who paid a visit to Garowe city of Puntland has yesterday reached Galkayo city of Mudug region. Prime Minister Abdiwali and his delegates were welcomed by senior officers of Galmudug region and a large crowd of residents. The PM visited IDP camps in Southern Galkayo and had talks with leaders of Galmudug region, starting with Galmudug presidents Mohamed Ahmed Aalin.
Somalia, Puntland sign cooperation agreement
31 Aug – Source: Shabelle, AHN – 269 words
The leaders of Somalia and the country’s semi-autonomous Puntland region have reached an agreement to improve ties between the two governments. The two sides agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding designed to end their lengthy squabble and start a new page of history after TFG President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed visited Garowe, the capital of Puntland, early this week and met with Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole.
Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, who visited Puntland last week, reportedly paved the way for the president’s visit to Garowe.
“The president went to visit Puntland under pressure from United Nation’s Political Office for Somalia,“ said a senior government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The presidential visit was also related to the upcoming Somali Consultations on Peace and Reconciliation meeting that Farole was pushing to be held in Garowe. However, the Somali president and prime minister succeeded in persuading the Puntland president to hold the first phase of the meeting in the Somali capital.
In the memorandum of understanding, the two sides agreed to:
- Improve ties and strengthen cooperation
- Implement the Galkacyo Accord of August 23, 2009 and security cooperation signed between the TFG and Puntland in April 2010
- Fight against terrorism, piracy, illegal immigration and strengthen security
- Provide equipment and security training to Puntland
- Reconsider reconstructing the navy
- Renovate and build the ARMO Police Academy
- Promote political and economic development
- Share and distribute donations equally
- Promote and protect human rights
- Complete the federal constitution.
http://shabelle.net/article.
Muslim Aid UK distributes food aid to the poor
31 Aug – Source: Somaliland press – 163 words
Muslim Aid UK Office in Hargeisa Somaliland has distributed the second round of food to IDP’s from Somalia who has sought refuge in Somaliland. The second round of food distribution took place in Kilil, Mahamed Mooge, Badhka and other scattered parts in Hargeisa. The total number of the people who received aid for the second round is 568. The Secretary of Maroodi-Jeex Region Mr. Hamse Issa, officials from the Hargeisa office members of Muslim Aid UK and other guests attended the event for distribution of the food. The First Lady – Mrs. Amina Mahamoud Dirie, attended the event and spoke of the fact that the government in cooperation with the likes of Muslim Aid UK will do all that it can to alleviate suffering and hardship.
Al Shabaab leader sends an audio message, congratulates Somalis on Eid
31 Aug – Source: Shabelle, Mareeg Online and Hiiraan Online – 177 words
The highest ranking al Shabaab leader on Tuesday congratulated all Somalis and Muslims around the world upon celebrating the Eid al Fitr holiday. Sheikh Mokhtar Abdurrahman Abu Zubeyr, the leader of al Shabaab group made the congratulations in an audio message released by an al Shabaab-run radio in Mogadishu. The al Shabaab leader said the people of Somalia are needed to help each other and should not wait for outside help. He mentioned that the world aid to Somalia’s drought hit population is based on political agendas, adding that they want to make more money under the name of helping the Horn of Africa nation. He continued talking about drought situation in the country, calling for rich Somalis to invest in the country’s dry lands by establishing water wells. Talking about battle in Somalia, the al Shabaab’s Amir said that they will continue combating against the African Christians and apostate government.
http://www.shabelle.net/
Traders rebuild partly collapsed bridge in Lower Jubba
30 Aug – Source: Radio Bar-Kulan – 80 words
Local traders in Lower Jubba region have rebuilt a recently collapsed Warty bridge, 45 KM north of Kismayo town. Hassan Ibrahim Maalim, one of the local traders involved in the reconstruction of the bridge told Bar-kulan that they have completed rebuilding parts of the bridge that has recently collapsed. He said they spent over $3,000 in reconstructing parts of the collapsed bridge. He added that vehicles used the facility today for the first time since it had partly collapsed a month ago.
Galmudug leader calls for cessation of hostilities in Degtur, Mudug region
31 Aug – Source: Radio Bar-Kulan – 211 words
Galmudug regional president Mohamed Ahmed Alin has appealed to worrying clans in Degtur area to immediately halt hostilities. The president said local elders from the region have already started preaching peace in the area and are negotiating with clan leaders to stop the fighting which on Monday claimed the lives of several people. He said the elders have reached to both sides of the worrying clans and are hoping to start mediation talks between them in order to permanently end the inter-clan hostilities looming in the area. President Alin has refuted claims that many people were killed during the Monday clashes in the area, saying that there were human casualties on both sides but the number is not that much alarming as it had been claimed earlier. Meanwhile, member of the TFG Prof. Mohamed Omar Dalha also added to his voice and called for immediate cessation of hostilities in Degtur area which on Monday witnessed its deadliest clan-affiliated skirmishes.
REGIONAL MEDIA
CPJ urges Somali authorities to investigate attack on Puntland radio station
30 Aug – Source: APA, Afrique avenir – 208 words
The media watchdog called the Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday called on authorities in Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland to conduct a thorough investigation into a grenade attack against a private radio station that left a security guard injured and the station damaged.
“This is the second attack on Radio Daljir,” said CPJ East Africa Coordinator Tom Rhodes in a statement issued Tuesday. “We call on the authorities to do their utmost to see that the perpetrators of this attack are brought to justice so that Puntland sends a message that intimidation and violence against the media will not go unpunished.”
The CPJ quotes the secretary-general of the Media Association of Puntland, Burhan Dahir, saying that at around 3am on Friday, a grenade was thrown into the compound of private broadcaster Radio Daljir in the city of Galkayo. The explosion slightly injured a security guard and damaged the front of the station’s compound, he said. The reason for the attack remained unclear, according to local reports.
In May, an unexploded bomb was found outside the station’s gate, Dahir said. Last September, unknown assailant’s fatally stabbed Radio Daljir journalist Abdullahi Omar Gedi, 25, in Galkayo after he left the station, the station’s managing partner, Jama Abshir, told CPJ.
UNHCR chief visits Horn of Africa
30 Aug – Source: Kuwait News Agency – 495 words
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres is on a three-day visit to the Horn of Africa to show solidarity with displaced Somalis during Eid el Fitr. Over the Eid period, UNHCR is airlifting 240 metric tonnes of aid from Saudi Arabia to Somalia. The assistance comprises dry goods and special Eid packages of ready-to-eat meals, orange juice, sweets and biscuits.
“Our partner Islamic Relief will distribute the packages to internally displaced Somalis and the urban poor in Mogadishu and Lower Shabelle region”said the UNHCR in a press release. “The goal remains to provide as much aid as possible within Somalia so that people affected by famine and conflict will not have to undertake the arduous journey to neighbouring countries in search of assistance”, UNHCR added.
While the Somali outflow into Ethiopia and Kenya has slowed, the camps continue to face challenges with the recent arrivals. In Ethiopia’s Dollo Ado area, Kobe camp has seen a slight decrease in the overall mortality rate (from 5.7 deaths/10,000 people/day last week to 4.9/10,000/day this week) but a worrying rise in deaths among children fewer than five years of age (from 12.9/10, 000/day last week to 15.3/10,000/day this week).
According to MSF, measles is the main cause of deaths in Kobe camp, accounting for 68 per cent of deaths. Other contributing factors are malnutrition, pneumonia and diarrhea. Although health services and nutritional feeding programmes are available, parents are not taking their children for continuing treatment.
Decentralization of services therefore remains a key priority in addressing high mortality rates. In addition to the community outreach programme, UNICEF’s mobile health clinic will this week start work in Kobe camp to encourage refugees to access the medical facilities available.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/
UNHCR to expand relief supplies for refugee camps in Kenya
31 Aug – Source: Coast week, Xinhua – 663 words
The UN refugee agency said on Tuesday that it has received a 62 million U.S. dollar donation from the IKEA Foundation geared towards expanding emergency relief for Somali refugees in Dadaab camp in northwest Kenya.
In a statement received in Nairobi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the donation, which will be staggered over three years, is the largest private donation that the UN refugee agency has received in its 60-year history, and the first time that a private body has chosen to directly support a major refugee complex.
“UNHCR is pleased to announce today that we have received a 62 million dollars donation from the IKEA Foundation geared towards expanding emergency relief for the thousands of people at the world’s largest refugee complex in Dadaab, Kenya,” UNHCR said.
UNHCR is working with the staff of the foundation on the development of a detailed submission for how these funds will be used, but in the short-term the immediate focus will be helping the needs of up to recently arrived 120,000 refugees, with a particular focus on refugee families and children.
IKEA Foundation manages social involvements on a global level. The mission of IKEA Social Initiative is to improve the rights and life opportunities of the many children, fighting for children’s rights to a healthy and secure childhood with access to quality education. UNICEF and Save the Children are the main partners; with a range of projects take a holistic approach for creating a substantial and lasting change.
http://www.coastweek.com/3434_
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
School is a safe haven for children displaced by famine and conflict in Somalia
30 Aug – Source: Unicef – 715 words
Nearly 100 Somali schoolchildren flip through paperback books with as much excitement as if they were the latest comics fresh off the presses. The pages, however, are covered with maths, science formulas and handwriting exercises.
“We have 200 children in this school,” says Mohamed Mohamud Osman, a teacher at the Wabari School, which is located in a camp for displaced persons in Mogadishu, the Somali capital. “A hundred of them come in the morning shift and the rest come in the afternoon shift. There are many more school-age children in this camp, but we can only take 200.”
Mr. Osman’s students have been living in this camp for nearly a year now, having fled from fighting in their villages or other parts of Mogadishu. He cannot even think of the many who have arrived more recently with families escaping drought and famine in the south of Somalia. “Each new family arrives with at least three school-aged children,” explains Deka Maalin Hassan Mohamud, who works with International Aid Services, a UNICEF partner. “Already we are taking shifts in the classroom, and the children are also sharing pens and exercise books.”
http://www.unicef.org/
Ikea gives £38 million to help Somali refugee crisis
30 Aug – Source: Telegraph – 232 words
The money worth €43 million (£38m) from a charitable foundation linked to the Swedish furniture chain will be used to support the world’s largest refugee complex in Dadaab, Kenya over th next three years.
Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said that the cash gift, the biggest in the agency’s 60-year history, would help up to 120,000 people fleeing a crisis that “continues to deepen with thousands of people fleeing Somalia every week”.
Ikea’s donation will be used to expand a UN refugee complex that was first opened in the early 1990s and designed to hold 90,000 but which now holds 440,000 refugees, including 150,000 who have arrived in the last few months. The UN has warned that a humanitarian crisis, which has killed tens of thousands, is still growing fuelled by violence, drought and famine in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti.
Officials said that the UN was aware of new claims about the Nazi past of Ingvar Kamprad, Ikea’s founder and stressed that the donation was examined with “due diligence” before it was accepted.
A recent book by Elisabeth Asbrink, a respected Swedish journalist, alleges that Mr Kamprad joined the wartime Swedish Nazi party in 1943 aged 17 and remained in contact with Nazi sympathisers until at least 1950. Per Heggenes, the head of the Ikea foundation, said the cash would “immediately make a difference” to thousands of refugees.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Press TV: Iran sending submarine, warship to Gulf of Aden, Red Sea
30 Aug – Source: Washington Post, AP – 124 words
An official Iranian news agency says Iran is sending a submarine and a warship to the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. Press TV quotes the commander, Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari, as saying the deployment will serve the country’s interests and “convey the message of peace and friendship to all countries.”
The item on Press TV’s website Tuesday said the presence of the Iranian navy would “tighten security for all countries.” Sayyari said the ships would also fight against pirates. Somalia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden, is a base for many pirate gangs. The body of water is south of Iran.
Somalia’s refugees celebrate holiday with food aid
31 Aug – Source: AP – 836 words
As she celebrated the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr on Tuesday, Somali mother Quresho Mohmoud Dahir counted her blessings: all her children were alive. They had food. They were safe.
“We will eat very well today,” she said proudly, gesturing at the food rations she’d received that morning. Her 12-year-old daughter sat protectively atop the two sacks of corn and the beans her mother was going to prepare.
Dahir is one of hundreds of thousands of Somalis forced to flee their homes by war and famine. She and her six children, the youngest only three years old, walked 12 days to get to this United Nations-run camp on the Ethiopia-Somali border after her husband disappeared after some fighting in their area.
Some days they were so hungry they ate leaves from trees. At night, she agonized over lighting a fire; it would protect her children from hyenas but might attract criminals or militias. Finally — sick, starving and exhausted — they stumbled into Dolo, a wind-swept outpost of brushwood buildings scattered among the twisted thorn trees and red sand.
Now the seven of them live in a ragged shelter made of plastic scraps and torn clothing stretched over branches. They depend on donors for everything from cooking pots to sleeping mats to food. Dahir remembers past years when she used to mark Eid by slaughtering her own goats, having a feast for friends and family and giving charity to her poorer neighbours. But she said this year she will cook her donated rations gladly, and give thanks for the kindness of the people that let her family survive a famine that has already claimed tens of thousands of lives.