June 14, 2013 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Somali President travels to UK
14 Jun- Source: Radio Mogadishu/ SNTV/ al Shahid- 84 words
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahamud and his delegation left on Thursday evening the Somali capital, Mogadishu, heading to Britain for an official visit. The Somali president has received an invitation from the British Prime Minister David Cameron to attend the Queen’s birthday party.
Somali President will also participates in a conference which brings together leading industrialized nations, which opens in London. He is expected to meet on the sidelines of the conference some of the leaders of the world.
Key Headlines
- Somali President travels to UK (Radio Mogadishu/ SNTV/ al Shahid)
- Somaliland: 20000 students to sit for nationwide exam on June 15 (Somaliland Informer)
- Somaliland bars UNSOM from opening offices (Somaliland Press/ Somaliland Informer/ Universal TV/Somaliland Sun)
- Somalia hosts historic EU delegation (Africa Review)
- UN Security Council concerned over situation in southern Somalia (People Daily/Xinhua)
- New UN envoy hails Somaliland as ‘island of relative peace and stability’ in insecure region (UN News Centre)
PRESS STATEMENT
Security Council: Press Statement on Somalia
14 Jun- Source: UNSOM- 394 words
On Thursday 13 June the Security Council received a briefing from Assistant Secretary-General Tayé-Brooke Zerihoun on the situation in the Juba regions of Somalia.
Members of the Security Council expressed their concern at the deterioration in the security situation in the Juba regions, particularly in Kismayo, and at the resulting impact on the civilian population and the humanitarian situation. The Members of the Security Council called on all parties to refrain from any action which may threaten peace and stability in the Juba regions and to engage with the Federal Government of Somalia in a constructive manner to achieve a peaceful resolution to the current crisis and to alleviate the dire humanitarian situation.
The members of the Security Council underlined their support for the development of an effective federal system of government, in line with the Provisional Constitution and in respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia, in order to ensure a constructive and sincere partnership between the Federal Government of Somalia and local and regional administrations. In this context the members of the Security Council look forward to a broad, inclusive, constitutional review process.
The members of the Security Council expressed their support for the IGAD Communiqué of 24 May and invited IGAD and neighbouring countries to play a strong and positive role in helping to decrease the tension and identify a way forward. The members of the Security Council welcomed the commitment of the Federal Government of Somalia to lead reconciliation efforts in the Juba regions with the support of UNSOM, IGAD and other appropriate actors. The members of the Council urged that this be taken forward expeditiously. The members of the Security Council underlined the availability of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to assist the Government of Somalia in peacefully resolving the situation.
The members of the Security Council underlined the importance of the issues in the Juba regions not distracting from the urgent need to end the threat posed by Al-Shabaab and bring, security and prosperity to the Somali people, the overwhelming majority of whom are committed to peace through dialogue. In that context, the members of the Council underscored their support for AMISOM and reiterated their willingness to take action against those who undermine the peace and reconciliation process in Somalia.
The Security Council will keep the situation under review.
SOMALI MEDIA
Somali President travels to UK
14 Jun- Source: Radio Mogadishu/ SNTV/ al Shahid- 84 words
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud and his delegation left on Thursday evening the Somali capital, Mogadishu, heading to Britain for an official visit. The Somali president has received an invitation from the British Prime Minister David Cameron to attend the Queen’s birthday party.
Somali President will also participates in a conference which brings together leading industrialized nations, which opens in London. He is expected to meet on the sidelines of the conference some of the leaders of the world.
Somaliland: 20,000 students to sit for nationwide exam on June 15
14 Jun- Source: Somaliland Informer 174 words
Up to 20, 000 students across the tiny country of Somaliland are about to take the annual high school and university entrance exams which will kickoff on Saturday the 15th of June.
Zamzam Abdi Adan, Minister for Education that as many as 20, 000 candidates who are expected to get enrolled into higher education institutions will sit for the test in nationwide. The minister has revealed that her ministry of education did the necessary preparation for exams to take place smoothly in the country.
Somaliland bars UNSOM from opening offices
13 Jun- Source: Somaliland Press/ Somaliland Informer/ Universal TV/Somaliland Sun- 207 words
President Ahmed Mohamed Mahamoud (Silanyo) met with UN envoy to Somalia and head of UNSOM Ambassador Nicholas Kays in Hargeisa, Somaliland. President Silanyo and Ambassador Nicholas Kays had lengthy discussion on issues relating to the workings of the world body (UN) in Somaliland; they also took the opportunity explored ways to enhance future bilateral relation between the UN and Somaliland.
Ambassador Nicholas Kay’s left Somaliland with empty hands this is after the Somaliland government refused UNSOM the permission to open offices in Somaliland. Somaliland minister of foreign affair and international relations Dr. Mohamed Abdillahi Omer also confirmed that the ban on UN planes is still in place except on those involved in Humanitarian work.
President Hassan sends confidant to mend ties with Ethiopia
13 Jun- Source: Garowe Online/ Somalia Today- 233 words
Government sources informed Garowe Online that Somali Federal Government (SFG) Minister of the Presidential Palace Farah Abdiqadir has been in Ethiopia trying to mend deteriorating ties, Garowe Online reports.
According to SFG sources, Minister Farah who has been in Ethiopia for the past three days has been meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn to give an unidentified letter to the Ethiopian Prime Minister from the SFG President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
The sources tell GO that the two leaders relationship turned sour after President Hassan allegedly supported Egypt against Ethiopia who begun construction of a controversial dam along the Blue Nile.
The sources say that President Hassan backed Egypt against the building of the dam after an official visit by the Egyptian Ministry of Defence on June 4th. The delegation pledged to rebuild the dilapidated headquarters of the Ministry of Defence. Also the delegation began talks on how to rebuild the Somalia Armed Forces.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Somalia hosts historic EU delegation
13 Jun- Source: Africa Review- 379 words
Somalia has hosted its first ever EU Political and Security Committee (EU-PSC) delegation. The EU-PSC ambassadors from the 27 member states met and held talks with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Mogadishu on Wednesday.
Addressing the ambassadors at Halane, a compound next to Mogadishu’s Aden Abdulle International Airport, President Mohamud said: “I am very pleased to receive you in Mogadishu on this historic visit. Welcome to the capital of Somalia. Your presence here today is indicative of the change that is happening here.”
The President thanked the delegates for their unwavering support to the government and the people of Somalia, which he said shows the commitment of the EU to see Somalia succeed.
Yemen President: over 2 mln African refugees in Yemen
12 Jun- Source: Yemen News Agency- 204 words
President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi received on Wednesday the representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Sana’a, Naveed Hussain, on the occasion of ending his tenure in Yemen.
President Hadi expressed his appreciation for the practical and field activities carried out by the UNHCR’s representative during his tenure in providing aid to displaced people in the provinces of Abyan and Aden and to the refugees from the Horn of Africa, who flow constantly into Yemen.
“There are more than two million refugees from the Horn of Africa in Yemen, mostly from Somalia”, Hadi said, wishing that Somalia restores its state and its institutions to what it was before.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
UN Security Council concerned over situation in southern Somalia
13 Jun- Source: People daily/ Xinhua- 330 words
The UN Security Council on Thursday Expressed concern at the deteriorated situation in the Juba regions, Somalia, calling for restraint from any action that may threaten peace and stability.
In a statement, the members of the Council called on all parties to engage with the federal government of Somalia in a constructive manner to achieve a peaceful resolution to the current crisis and to alleviate the dire humanitarian situation.
Clashes flared on Saturday in Kismayo, a southern Somali port city in Juba regions,between militia fighters loyal to two rival leaders in the city. The Horn of Africa nation’s government is organizing dialogue for rival leaders in the port city over the formation ofa regional state for three southern provinces of Gedo, Lower Juba and Middle Juba.
New UN envoy hails Somaliland as ‘island of relative peace and stability’ in insecure region
13 Jun- Source: UN News Centre- 741 words
The new United Nations envoy for Somalia arrived today in Somaliland, which he said has remained “an island of relative peace and stability” and could provide lessons for peace consolidation throughout the wider region.
“We are…here to learn and to support initiatives that will lead to sustainable peace, stability and prosperity in Somalia and beyond,” said Nicholas Kay, head of the new UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) as he arrived in Hargeisa, Somaliland this morning.
In his first visit to the region since assuming his duties as head of the Mission on 3 June, he met with President Ahmed Mahamed Mohamud (Silaanyo) and officials of the Somaliland Administration.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“The political cross currents in both Somalia and Mali are forecast to be turbulent at best for many years to come. Perhaps the political protagonists and peace builders in these countries will look back at the patience and determination of those AMISOM soldiers and mirror the military gains by identifying uniquely African – or should I say uniquely Somali and Mali – ways forward for these fragile countries.”
Looking at the lessons since Black Hawk Down
13 June- Source: American Security Project Blog-769 Words
This October sees the twentieth anniversary of events that came to be known as Black Hawk Down, in which eighteen US military personnel and hundreds of Somalis died. Over a thousand Somalis were injured, hundreds of them civilians, though estimates vary greatly. It so horrified Americans at the time it led to the early withdrawal of US forces from Somalia and the collapse of the UN mission.
Today, Somalia appears to have the chance to rise from the ashes of incessant violence, state failure and humanitarian catastrophe. The US is among a number of countries that are seriously re-engaging in what was thought to be a hopeless cause for a long time after those tragic events in Mogadishu.
Central to this story of phoenix rising is the African Union peacemaking mission, AMISOM, that has pushed Islamist insurgents from virtually all the major urban centers of Somalia, leading to political, economic and social gains that are tangible and undeniable.
There is something about AMISOM that has meant it has been more successful than better-equipped, better-trained American forces have been in comparable counter-insurgency operations in recent times.
Top tweets
@engyarisow The President of #Somalia attends the Queen’s Birthday event and the #G8 Tax, Trade and Extractives event in Londonhttps://www.facebook.com/engyarisow/posts/587523704601615 …
@AmbAmerico Today at an arts exhibition in Mogadishu#Somalia pic.twitter.com/csvmBqT41A
@JamesGadin Read the Report of #AU Commission Chairperson on #Somalia & #AMISOM –http://www.peaceau.org/en/article/report-of-the-chairperson-of-the-commission-on-the-situation-in-somalia-5 …
@mary_harper #Somalia #police force has a #Facebook pagehttps://www.facebook.com/SomaliPoliceForce?notif_t=fbpage_fan_invite …
@WIIS_USA The Somali Gov. and the @amisomsomalia have started making the first National #Gender Policy for #Somalia!http://bit.ly/141lJYF
Image of the day
Delegates listen on the first day of a workshop in the Ugandan capital Kampala to draft Somalia’s national gender policy designed to explore and develop gender-sensitive policy whilst providing a framework to the government that will encourage and enforce gender equality. Photo: AMISOM Facebook