February 25, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
The Istanbul High-Level Partnership Forum Ends With Renewed Resolve To Support Somalia’s Growth Process
25 February – Source: AMISOM – 540 Words
The High-Level Partnership Forum on Somalia came to a close in Istanbul, Turkey today, after two days of deliberations on Somalia’s progress particularly in the security, political fronts. In a communiqué issued at the end of the conference, attended by over 200 delegations from at least 50 countries, Somalia’s development partners acknowledged the remarkable progress achieved in the peace and state-building goals and urged for speedy completion to the state formation process.The Forum also urged for a swift completion of Somalia’s Provisional Federal Constitution, which it stressed must include views of emerging and federal members states and the wider Somali publics. The communiqué committed to an electoral process in August 2016, emphasizing that there should not be any impediments to the timely implementation of the process, including freedom of expression, nor extension of the constitutionally mandated term limits of the legislature and the executive.
In the communiqué, the Forum acknowledged progress made in achieving greater peace and stability in Somalia but expressed concern that the security environment at present may inhibit development of governing institutions. The Forum asked for the development of financially sustainable plans, for the army and police before May 2016, under a national security architecture and lauded efforts by the Federal Government of Somalia to undertake a National Threat Assessment and ensure the National Security Policy is fully agreed to and endorsed before May 2016. In his remarks at the official closing of the two-day Forum, Somali Prime Minister H.E Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke assured Somalia’s partners that the country would not fall short of expectations.
“Somalia is on the path to recovery and your continued interest and the participation of 54 nations and a dozen of international organizations is indeed very much encouraging,” he stated.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Yalçın Akdoğan outlined other key priorities that needed focus if Somalia is to fully progress. “Military vehicles are not the only elements in the restoration of peace and security. Recovery and strengthening the economic activities are of vital importance. At the same time, creating job opportunities for the young people and women is crucial. Of course, to achieving this, there should be a state that has supremacy of law with democratic and accountable government bodies,” he stressed.
The AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Ambassador Smail Chergui and the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia and Head of AMISOM Ambassador Francisco Madeira led the AU delegation to the Forum. Ambassador Francisco Madeira reiterated the need for combined efforts in ensuring the growth of Somalia’s security institutions in preparation for their gradual takeover of the management of the country’s security. “We believe strongly that Somalia will ultimately achieve peace and stability, lasting peace and stability only and when Somalis themselves take into their hands the responsibility of securing their country,” SRCC Madeira said.
“Fighting Al Shabaab, defeating Al Shabaab in Somalia or elsewhere is as important as defeating pirates in the Indian ocean who threaten normal trade of many countries. Fighting and defeating Al Shabaab is preparing conditions not only for Somalia to rise up to its former glory but also protecting the rest of the region from instability, which runs against the possibility of development,” added Ambassador Madeira.
Key Headlines
- The Istanbul High-Level Partnership Forum Ends With Renewed Resolve To Support Somalia’s Growth Process (AMISOM)
- Somali Government Beefs Up Airport Security Following Daallo Airline Attack (VOA Somali)
- Italy Pledges Support For Somalia In Matters Security (Wacaal Media)
- Somali President Sees Signs Of Hope As 2500 Jobs Created (Hiiraan Online)
- Puntland Appeals For Assistance To Drought Affected Families Shabelle Media Network)
- Extreme Water Shortages In Parts Of Galgadud (Goobjoog News)
- EAC Summit Pushed Forward As Members Mull Somalia South Sudan Inclusion (IPP Media)
- Somali Women Can Be Agents Of Political Change And Promoters Of Peace And Security (UNSOM)
- Politics Violence And Food In Somalia (Press TV)
- Terrorism A Threat To African Businesses (IOL)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Government Beefs Up Airport Security Following Daallo Airline Attack
25 February – Source: VOA Somali- 267 Words
In a bid to win back confidence of passengers and airlines, the federal government of Somalia has been implementing series of security measures aimed at beefing up the security of Aden Adde international airport following the Daallo airline midair attack in February.
Several staff suspected of either facilitating the attack or sleeping on the job have been either arrested or sent home. Checkpoints have been increased and well-equipped police officers deployed to scrutinize passengers and their luggage. A local VOA reporter who went through the checks reported seeing even VIP passengers being subjected to these thorough searches. Head of the immigration department Gen. Abdullahi Gaafow and his civil aviation counterpart Abdiwahid Ahmed confirmed the heightened security checks saying the move was aimed at ensuring no lapses in the future.
“We have found solutions to all the lapses that allowed the Daallo incident. No passenger or luggage is now allowed into the airport without thorough checks. We have limited the number of those not traveling accessing key areas. We have also ensured no more inside jobs by vetting staff deployed in key areas,” said Gaafow.
Abdiwahid Ahmed on his side reiterated direct flights by Daallo and Jubba to Dubai will begin this coming week while Turkish airlines will follow suit a week later.
Daallo has already started local flights and its crew expressed satisfaction at the new measures. The airlines’ Nairobi based Director of maintenance Kaamil Abdiaziz said the company has also started implementing their own strict security measures to ensure no future lapses. He asked passengers to bear with them and cooperate to ensure their safe travels.
Italy Pledges Support For Somalia In Matters Security
25 February – Source: Wacaal Media – 122 Words
Italy has pledged more support for Somalia especially in the security sector in the ongoing high level forum in Turkey. The announcement was made by the Foreign Minister of Italy Paolo Gentiloni who spoke at the forum on Wednesday.
Gentiloni said continued support by the international community was key to stabilizing Somalia and urged partner countries to Fast track assistance to the federal government.
He noted it was important to complete the federalization process and urged the Federal government to ensure formation of a regional state for Hiiraan and Middle Shabelle regions was completed successfully. The minister called on Somalia and Somaliland to re-start stalled talks to amicably resolve the current standoff. He pledged his government support in the fight against Al-Shabaab.
Somali President Sees Signs Of Hope As 2500 Jobs Created
25 February – Source: Hiiraan Online – 339 Words
According to the World Bank, Somalia’s development and humanitarian indicators are among the lowest in the world, with the overall unemployment rate among people aged 15 to 64 is estimated at 54 percent in Somalia, up from 47 percent since 2002. Speaking at the sixth meeting of the High Level Partnership Forum on Somalia in Istanbul on Tuesday, president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said that his government had created 2500 jobs in 2015, with 70% of the population under the age of 30.
“We need hundreds of thousands of jobs. We must do more so that we have concrete projects all over Somalia– not just plans – that link youth development with education and with job creation.” He said. Mr. Mohamud has also expressed frustration at the long waiting for a ‘small-scale’ infrastructure assessment to be completed by the international community to facilitate the forthcoming dedicated infrastructure fund which would have to ‘quickly’ identify projects to fund in Somalia.
“It is not enough that hundreds of thousands of Somali children are still not in school. It is not good enough that the first assessment of Somali schools is about to carried out only now- three years after we agreed that it was a first step.” He said. In October last year, Somalia’s prime minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke has proposed the government’s ‘grand development plan’ to the United Nations Security Council to rebuild country’s social and physical infrastructure to help building a better future.
The horn of Africa nation which is recovering from decades of war is struggling to rebuild, with Mr. Sharmarke concentrated public services in his speech, saying that “many people around the world take for granted, then again Somalia lacks it completely, or has in very short supply.” According to a recent report by the World Bank, Somalia is gradually raising political stability, marking a turnaround for the country ravaged by over two decades of civil war since 1991 which had destroyed the country’s entire infrastructure, forcing the impoverished nation to start picking up pieces from the scratch.
Puntland Appeals For Assistance To Drought Affected Families
25 February – Source: Shabelle News – 127
The vice president of Puntland, a semi-autonomous state in northeast of Somalia Abdihakin Abdullah Haji Omar Amey has issued appeals for assistance to drought affected areas in the region. Speaking at a press conference in Bossaso, the vice president of Puntland said the are having meetings with the international aid agencies to provide critical life-saving humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable people dying for hunger and lack of water.
“There are ongoing talks between Puntland and aid agencies to respond and deliver food aid to the drought-affected people in the towns under our administration,” said Abdihakin Amey. However, Parts of Puntland continue to experience severe drought conditions which have affected hundreds of thousands of people. These conditions are as a result of failed two consecutive rainy seasons.
Extreme Water Shortages In Parts Of Galgadud
25 February – Source: Goobjoog News – 121
Pastoralist families and their livestock in Shimbiralle village of Galgaduud region are facing an extreme water shortage as the water pans, boreholes and other sources of water have dried up. Mohmmad Xirsi a local resident who spoke to Goobjoog News this morning complained that the village does not have single water well and residents used to reply on dams and pans that are now dry. “They currently have to rely on water brought from faraway places” he said. He called upon international aid agencies and the Federal government to immediately initiate emergency relief measures to rescue the affected residents as soon as possible. Central regions of Somalia have low annual precipitation and face frequent droughts and water shortage throughout the years.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
EAC Summit Pushed Forward As Members Mull Somalia, South Sudan Inclusion
25 February – Source: IPP Media – 809 Words
The East African Community (EAC) Heads of State Summit earlier scheduled for February 29 (next Monday) in Arusha has been pushed to March 2 (Wednesday) to allow all five presidents to attend. This comes as members of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) continue to differ on the inclusion of Somalia and South Sudan as new members of the regional bloc. According to the head of the corporate communications and public affairs department with the EAC secretariat, Richard Owora, all five presidents including the embattled Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi had by yesterday afternoon confirmed their participation in the summit.
“They have all confirmed their participation for the summit which has been pushed further to next Wednesday,” he said. The EAC council of ministers is meanwhile conducting its own meeting to precede the summit, Owora said. The Guardian understands that negotiations have been going on behind the scenes regarding the admission of South Sudan and Somalia into the EAC, which is already a home to some 146 million people.
According to the treaty establishing the community, a country may be allowed to join the bloc if it borders one of the partner states and is ready to adhere to the Open Market Policy. Nonetheless, the inclusion of particularly those two countries into the bloc has drawn mixed reactions among East Africans. According to Tanzanian EALA lawmaker Abdullah Mwinyi, even though residents of the region stand to greatly benefit from the bloc’s further expansion, the issue of political stability within and among member states is also very important.
Somali Women Can Be Agents Of Political Change And Promoters Of Peace And Security
25 February – Source: UNSOM – 435 Words
A high-profile event on women, peace and security on the opening day of the third ministerial High-Level Partnership Forum (HLPF) asserted the rights of Somali women to become protagonists in the politics, security and state-building agenda of their country. The federal Minister of Women and Human Rights Development, H.E. Zahra Samantar, welcomed participants to a breakfast event entitled Women, Peace and Security: Investing in Peacemakers and Social Rebuilders. The event was jointly organized by her ministry and the Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs with support from the United Nations and was co-hosted by the governments of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the United Kingdom.
“We must be given the tools to influence politics,” said the minister, stressing the benefits of giving Somali women greater political participation. “Giving women more participation can only lead to a better society and generate a more equitable distribution of wealth.” The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Somalia, Michael Keating, praised the decision to reserve 30 per cent of the seats in the upper and lower houses of the country’s next parliament for Somali women. Both houses are scheduled to be elected in August 2016.
“Somalia is at an exciting, critical stage in the state formation and state building process,” said SRSG Keating. “Opportunities for women to participate in this process must be spotted and seized.” Mr. Keating cited the 2016 electoral process, the constitutional review process and the creation of a road map to one-person, one-vote elections in 2020 as three promising opportunities for creating momentum for greater political empowerment of women.
Politics, Violence And Food In Somalia
24 February – Source: Press TV – Video: 24:16 Minutes
The UN has said that nearly one million people are struggling every day to meet their food needs. According to the world body, 4.7 million people, or nearly 40 percent of the Somali population, stand in need of humanitarian aid. They are calling for USD 885 million in aid to assist people in conflict- and disaster-affected regions; but so far the global community has not opened its coffers. Nearly four years ago, intense drought and war sparked a famine, killing more than a quarter of a million people across the war-torn country in the Horn of Africa. The international community has failed to tackle the famine crisis due to the ongoing war and internal conflicts in Somalia. The developments come as the African country has been the scene of clashes between government forces and al-Shabab militants since 2006.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Africa is at war with non-state actors who want to take the continent… It’s not Africa’s war. It’s a global problem. We need to work together,” he said.
Terrorism A Threat To African Businesses
24 February – Source: IOL – 649 Words
Terrorism ranks high among Africa’s business challenges, along with everyday regulatory and infrastructure shortcomings, a Cape Town summit on the continent’s economy heard this week.
Donald Kaberuka, a Rwandan economist and former head of the African Development Bank, told a gathering of investors, business and government leaders from across the world that fighting continental terrorism needed global support though.
In reference to rebel groups and religious extremists, Kaberuka said “well-armed non-state actors (are) destabilising African economies”.
“Africa is at war with non-state actors who want to take the continent… It’s not Africa’s war. It’s a global problem. We need to work together,” he said.
At a business dinner on Tuesday night, Kaberuka shared his views with delegates of the one-day Bloomberg Africa Business and Economic Summit at the Westin Hotel in Cape Town.
TOP TWEETS
@engyarisow: Mortars landed at the gate of the PM’s residence, killed & wounded guards. Another mortar landed near Villa Somalia and killed 5 civilians
@MogadishuNews: Update: A mother and her 2 children dead while 3 others wounded after mortar rounds landed around#Somalia‘s presidential palace.
@AbdulBillowAli: My report: New Somali anti-money laundering law to help monitor cash movements in #Somalia.https://youtu.be/e0T6q5ZK9p8
@DrumChronicles: #Somalia fighter jets bombs Al Shabaab controlled village of Tula-Barwaqo Gedo region
@Somaliupdate : #Somalia Has Seen Less Piracy Due to Improved Governance: Expert
@Vatescorp : #Somalia: Puntland will not accept the outcome of Turkey conference says deputy President http://ow.ly/YJfjI
@NominalAnalyst : Excellent analysis of strategies used by#Kenya‘s #KDF in #Somalia to fight #AlShabaab by Prof. David Anderson https://www.youtube.com/watch?
@AfricanNewsbot : US Seeks Help Fighting Terrorism From Tech and Entertainment Industries – New York Times: US …http://bit.ly/1Qejx7z #africa #somalia
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IMAGE OF THE DAY
Some angels just roam about the streets. #Mogadishu #Somalia